The Shadow Thief
by Mishirure
Summary: Based after Sly 3. Lone again Sly is roaming around Paris, looking for something to do that’ll cause trouble. Then he meets a girl. And she’s wearing his costume. Complete! R&R!
1. Ch 1: Framed

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter One: Framed_**

* * *

_**! IMPORTANT NOTE !**_

I _am _a supporter of the Sly x Carmelita pairing, but it's dampened a bit by the fact that the two are different animals. S A raccoon and a fox… kinda weird, don't you think?

So, this story is about what would happen if Sly met another raccoon. Don't worry, Carmelita won't be left alone. She'll find someone in this story, too.

I just typed this all out so none of you would think I like to destroy couples. 'Cause most people seem to think I do… P

Thank you and enjoy!

P.S. I haven't yet beaten the Sly 3 game, so if all my facts aren't strait, please forgive me.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Sly Cooper, I'd be working on the next one. Not writing Fan Fics.

* * *

It was the early hours of the morning in Paris, France, and the notorious thief, Sly Cooper, could just barely see through the dark. He had only the moon's glow to guide him as he did a rail-slide here, and ninja-spire jump there…

Things had been pretty boring after they had assembled the team that helped Sly open his family's vault. And now, he was alone again. After being separated, Sly had moved back to Paris. Partially because Carmelita was there, and he hoped Murray and Bentley would've done the same, in hopes of them all finding each other.

Sly did have a way of contacting Bentley, though. Bentley had left his lap-top computer in their old hide-out. Unfortunetley, the thing was so slow, (because Bentley had so much stuff on the hard drive) that Sly didn't bother to try and get it working. He wasn't much of a computer genius, anyway.

Sly was more of the action type guy. But since the team had been separated (again, I might add), here was no action. No Bentley to tell him that something else was up, no Murray to drive the van, no… van. Just Sly with two extra beds in their little, old, rundown train-car that had been their hideaway for years.

Sly climbed his way up a lamp-post, and did a ninja-spire jump up to the top. Her perched there, looking across beautiful Paris. But he sighed. It wasn't the same without Bentley and Murray. And he was bored! He was restless, and had been going out every night, hoping that something, _anything_, would happen and grab his attention.

Well that night he got his wish.

He was gazing boredly at the Eiffel Tower in the distance when he heard the sound of police sirens. He looked to see what was going on, and saw… _dozens _of police cars heading towards the Louvre. Curiosity got the better of Sly, and he made his way towards the Louvre as well. If Carmelita was on the job tonight, and she probably was, Sly knew it would take them a while to inspect the place if there was a theft. So, he would be able to hear what was going on by the time he got there.

He crawled his was expertly beneath the police cars, so he wouldn't be seen by the cops that were around, and crawled to the one nearest to the Louvre, and Inspector Fox. She was barking out orders in that typical way of hers.

"Keep careful watch!" She called out to the other officers. "Do _not _let your guard down! If Cooper gets away, we'll be out here all night trying to find him!"

'_Cooper…?_' Sly thought, confused. '_I didn't steal anything from the Louvre…_'

"Inspector Fox!" An officer called to her, running out of the museum. "It's the Mona Lisa! It's gone!"

"The Mona Lisa!" Carmelita said in alarm. Then she grew thoughtful. "It doesn't seem like Cooper to steal such an important artifact…"

"He left his calling card," The officer said, and held out a paper-folding of a blue raccoon face; The Cooper Clan symbol. Sly narrowed his eyes when he saw it. Something was definitely wrong here… and he was going to right it.

Slowly and carefully making his way back the way he came, his heart sank and was filled with fear when he heard Inspector Fox shout out, "Search the town! Track him down! We won't let him get away with stealing the Mona Lisa. We'll—_there he is!_'

He wouldn't be able to escape at least three dozen police officers! So he waited for the police the pounce him… but they didn't. He heard Carmelita's shock pistol go off, but it wasn't aimed at him. Crawling the rest of the way through beneath the cars, Sly ran to an area out of sight of the officers. He looked up to the roof of a building, and saw a figure running and jumping, dodging the blasts from Carmelita's gun. He took out his Binoc-u-com, and zoomed in on the person. He didn't see them very well, except for the painting strapped to their back.

_The Mona Lisa!_

"Score," Sly said smiling. He decided he was going to steal it back for Carmelita… and to hopefully clear his name of this particular theft. Sly didn't like being framed.

Climbing up a lamp-post, Sly managed to catch up with this the thief. He pursued them until they stopped, and when they did, Sly called out to them, "You know, I don't exactly think you'll make a good reputation as a thief by framing other thieves. Normally thieves take credit for their own heists."

The person turned when he spoke, and then dashed away again. Sly smiled as he followed after them. Feeling confident, he kept a little distance between the two of them. And he smiled even more when he saw the next rooftop was little bit farther away than the one before. He also saw that this new thief hesitated when they saw it. They probably couldn't make the jump… but they tried anyway, and fell. Sly skidded to a halt at the edge of the roof when he heard the scream. It was a female's scream. So, his 'framer' was a girl.

Being a gentleman, and a ladies' man, he rail-walked the electrical wire that was between the two houses to the other side of the roof. The girl was hanging on to the same wire, and Sly had only gone to the other roof to help her. He held out his hand to her. She didn't take it.

"Come on," He said. "I want to help you."

"Drop dead!" the girl snapped. Sly raised an eye-brow.

"So you're just going to hang there all day?" He asked.

"I'll get up myself," She said arrogantly, and Sly watched with an amused expression as she tried to use her cane to hook onto something protruding from the wall. His amused expression was quickly turned to shock when it hit him.

She had a cane, and Sly was rather… bemused as to how she managed to obtain one _identical_ to his. The hook was the same shape; the rod was the same length. He could have sworn the entire cane was made out of the same material as his. The only difference was the hook was silver, not gold.

He went back to watching the girl, and he saw that she managed to hook her cane onto the thing that was sticking out of the brick of the building. However, when she let go of the electrical wire, she smacked into the wall of the building. Sly had to try hard not to laugh. It really was rather pathetic to watch her…

The girl scoffed, and then looked up at him. "Fine! I'll accept your help. But don't expect anything in return!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Sly said with a dashing grin, and held his hand out to her again. She took it this time, though rather reluctantly, and Sly pulled her up with ease. She was really light…

"Thank you," The girl said in an irritated tone. Sly just smiled at her again.

"Not a problem," He replied. "I always help out fellow thieves."

Then he noticed what she was wearing. He was definitely starting to get weirded out. She was wearing a costume identical to his. From the belt, to the gloves, to the hat, it was the same. Except for the color. It was a really dark navy blue that could have been easily mistaken for black. He took a slow step towards her, which she must've not noticed, and pulled her hat of her head. She swiped for it when he took it, but he pushed her back.

"Hold on a sec," He said, and he took off his own hat to compare the two. Yep, they were the same. He gave her a suspicious look, and then he realized he could see her features. She had her hair tucked up into the hat when she was wearing it, so only now could he see that it was dark, long, and full of luster. She had beautiful sapphire blue eyes, but they were looking at him in anger at the moment. She was also a raccoon. Around her eyes, making them stand out even more, was a black 'mask' like band. She was really quite lovely. She was almost as lovely as Carmelita. Almost.

"Stop staring," The girl ordered, and she swiped her hat back from Sly. He smiled at her again as she tucked her hair up into it again.

"My apologies," He said. "But I don't think I've seen you around Paris before."

"I'm just starting out as a thief," The girl said in that same, arrogant way. But Sly smiled. He was used to dealing with women like this.

"Ah. That explains it. Just one question, though; did you steal anything from the Louvre recently?"

The answer to this was obvious, for the Mona Lisa was strapped to her back. She glared at him, and then sighed, took the painting off her back, and chucked it at him. "Here. I don't need it."

"Thanks a bunch," Sly said. "One more question; why did you frame me for stealing this?"

She gave him an outraged look, and muttered, "Typical Cooper."

"Sorry?" Sly asked.

"Read the first few pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. That'll tell you." She said, and she started to walk away, flipping her cane like he usually did.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sly said quickly, causing her to stop and give him a look-back stare. "How do you know about the—"

"Like I said," She interrupted. "Read the first few pages."

"Then meet me back here in an hour!" Sly called after her as she started to climb down a pipe to the street below. It was at the opposite side of the building where she almost fell.

"Fine!" She yelled up to him. "Just read it!"

Sly thought for a moment up on the roof. This was definitely weird… then he remembered the priceless painting in his hands, and he decided to take it back to Carmelita. He maneuvered his way beneath the cars like he did before, and once he was underneath the Inspector's car, he scribbled a note on a piece of paper (shaped like the Cooper Clan symbol of course), stuck the note to the picture frame, and then slipped it into the passenger side of the car. Then he snuck away so he could read what that girl had told him to… he wanted answers.

* * *

Carmelita came back to her car after she had lost Sly. She wasn't going to do any good on foot, so she would drive around town looking for him. She climbed into the car, turned the key into the ignition, and then she noticed the painting sitting next to her. Mona Lisa's smile reminded her forcefully of Sly. The way that smile suggested that she knew something that they didn't… did she know where Sly was?

Then Carmelita noticed the blue, raccoon face-shaped sticky note stuck to the frame, and she pulled it off.

The note read:

_Dearest Carmelita,_

_Sorry about all the trouble you went through trying to find this painting. I'll have you know I would never steal suck an important artifact – even if I am a thief. _

_I found the Mona Lisa for you. Now you won't get in trouble again. _

_Yours Truly,_

_Sly_

* * *

**A/N: **W00t! First chapter! I hope you liked it. This is gonna be one long, weird, messed up story. It's based on a Role Play a friend and I did. So… see you all next chapter! 


	2. Ch 2: Merah Ringo

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**Disclaimer:** If I owned it, I wouldn'd be here.

* * *

_**Chapter Two: Merah Ringo**_

_**Last Time:**_

She gave him an outraged look, and muttered, "Typical Cooper."

"Sorry?" Sly asked.

"Read the first few pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. That'll tell you." She said, and she started to walk away, flipping her cane like he usually did.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sly said quickly, causing her to stop and give him a look-back stare. "How do you know about the—"

"Like I said," She interrupted. "Read the first few pages."

* * *

Because he carried it with him everywhere, Sly was now sitting on top of another building reading the thieving book. The police cars were still roaming around the city, but there were fewer now.

He read through the section that described how the book came to be. How his ancestor, Socrates Cooper, who founded the book had been in a partnership with another raccoon thief by the name of Lucian Ringo.

Socrates and Lucian were best friends. They grew up together in ancient Greece. As they got older, and their families steadily poorer, the two decided to steal to feed their families. So, this was why the Cooper clan stole only for good – most of the time. Once they started stealing, their reputation as thieves quickly grew. Then both of them, at the same time in fact, lost their families, and they vowed to stay together as a team until the death. They decided together that they would record their thieving secrets in a great book, and they, together, chose the name that is the Thievius Raccoonus.

Then, after the two had made their reputation grow in many other places, Socrates had stolen something, or at least had done something to upset a giant bird, which Sly knew only as Clockwerk. His name had changed when he replaced his body with machinery, and the name he had been called by before was unreadable, for the ink was smudged. But it didn't matter to Sly. He knew now that Socrates was the reasoning for Clockwerk coming after his family for generations. And then, Lucien turned against Socrates after they got in a fight, and they split up. The fight was, primarily, about whose family the book should go to after they had passed on. It went to Socrates, though Lucien did try to steal it from him many times.

Socrates wrote in the book that Lucien Ringo was, indeed, an enemy of the Cooper Clan, now. But though Lucien was an enemy, Socrates still thought of him as an honorable thief.

'_So… that girl is a Ringo, then.'_ Sly thought after he had stored the book back in his bag. _'She must've grown up thinking us Coopers were scum. When I go back I'll have to… change her mind. After all, I don't want to be framed for more thefts.'_

He made his way back to that same building where he had helped her, and he saw she was there already. She was leaning on her cane, and Sly said to her after a moment, "You're a Ringo."

She gave a single nod, and then said, "You know, I'm actually really surprised you didn't figure that out earlier."

"This is the first time I've ever heard of the Ringo Clan," Sly said, crossing her arms. "So I couldn't have figured it out earlier."

"Seriously?" She asked, raising a brow. "No one told you?"

"Nope," Sly said. "Actually, I don't think my father did, either. Most of my ancestors didn't read the beginning of the Thievius Raccoonus. Much too long and boring. My history-nut uncle might have read it, but I can't be sure…"

She looked at the ground, and then stood up strait, taking her cane in her hand. Sly watched her for a minute.

"But y'know," He started again. "That still doesn't explain why you framed me."

"Our families are against each other," She said, as if it were obvious.

"But by framing me, you're just making my reputation stronger," Sly said, tipping his hat, now leaning on his own cane. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out so she closed it again. He grinned at her. "Now you're wondering why you framed me, too."

She didn't answer. Sly just gave a small laugh.

"Okay, so the framing concept is dealt with," Sly continued, standing up strait and walking over to her. He began to circle her. "But that still doesn't explain why you're dressed like me. Are you a… crazed fan-girl, or something?"

"Definitely not," She said, sounding outraged. "And stop circling me, you vulture. It's creeping me out."

"Why are you dressed like me, then?"

"I consider myself a shadow," She said seriously. "Your shadow. I dress like you so if I ever get caught stealing something and framing you for it, they'll think it's you."

"But if you get arrested and they find out it's not me, what happens then?" Sly asked, moving his face closer to hers.

"I can out-run anyone," She said threateningly, looking him strait in the eye. "Even you. Shadows move quicker than the real thing, didn't you know that?"

"What was all this supposed to gain?" Sly asked after a minute, crossing his arms again.

"Reputation. To be known." She replied. "No, a better reputation that yours. But I guess I still have some kinks to work out."

"I can understand your reasoning for all of this," Sly said. "Lucien Ringo probably drilled it into the head of his son or daughter that they should pass down the story of Socrates Cooper to keep the hate for my family alive. That all Coopers are benefit-reaping scum."

"That's exactly it." She whispered fiercely.

"Not all family members are the same, just to let you." He said with a smile. "Which leaves me with my final question; what could the name of my shadow possibly be?"

"Merah," She said simply. "But you know, now that I've told you all of this, I'm going to have to kill you. I was supposed to kill you, anyway."

"Ouch," Sly said in mock hurt, putting a hand to his heart. "And I thought we were going to the best of friends."

Suddenly there was an explosion two streets down, and instead of looking alarmed, Merah looked…. Incredibly annoyed.

"Maxwell, you moron!" She yelled, and she did an awkward rail-walk across a telephone wire. Sly, curious again, followed after her.

They were on the street now, running in the direction from the explosion. Sly spoke as they ran.

"Aren't we supposed to be running _away _from the explosion?" He asked.

"You can turn back any time," Merah answered.

"Okay, then…" He said. "Who's Maxwell, then? Your boyfriend?"

"Heck, no!" Merah replied, sounding disgusted. "He's my brother."

"Oh," Sly said. "He sounds like a really intelligent guy."

They reached Merah's house, and her look of anger quickly changed to a look of alarm when she saw the place was on fire. She ran to the house, but before she could run it, Sly caught her arm.

"What are you doing?" He asked, yelling over the noise of the house crumbling.

"He's the only family I have left," She said quickly, and ran into the house anyway. Sly waited anxiously for her to come out.

Wait a sec… he was anxious? Oh. He probably just wanted to make it up to her for his family treating hers so horribly.

Then he head the sound of police sirens in the far distance, and he muttered miserably, "Oh, no…"

* * *

Inside the house, Merah maneuvered her way carefully around the burning house.

"Max?" She called. "Max, where are you? Max!"

There was no answer. She went to where the computer was, where he usually sat, and saw he wasn't there. But the back door was ajar. Merah had to smile. He managed to get out…

She was about to head for that door when a burning pillar fell in front of it.

"No!" She yelled, and started to turn back the other way, dodging a pillar that fell right t her feet. She hopped over it, and made a run for the door. She was barely outside when the roof started to cave in, and it missed her just by an inch. She coughed out the smoke as she got to her feet. Sly was still there.

"Why are you still here?" She asked as Sly grabbed her hand.

"We have to go!" He shouted. She wrenched her hand out of his grasp.

"No way, I'm not going anywhere!" She snapped.

"Do you want to get arrested, then?" Sly asked. "The police are coming."

Merah looked behind her, and saw the flashing blue and red lights coming around the corner. She moved towards Sly, muttering, "I'll follow you…" and then they both ran as fast as they could.

"Wait a minute!" Sly said as they ran. "I thought you said you could outrun anyone?"

"Anyone on foot!" She yelled. "In a car? I'm normally in a car myself if that's the case!"

"This way!" Sly said suddenly, and he grabbed her hand and pulled her in between two buildings, big enough only for the two of them to stand sideways. Sly had his arm up on the wall Merah had her back against, to balance himself. They were really cramped. They were pressed up right against each other. They were hidden in shadow now, and the police cars drove right past them. Merah sighed with relief after the cars passed them, and she looked up at Sly.

"Thanks," She said. "I definitely owe you."

Then she realized how close they were to each other, and she put a hand on his chest to push him back a bit, biting her lip.

"Uh…" Sly clicked his tongue. "Yeah, sorry about the tight space."

"That's okay," She said. "I'll forgive you once I know we can get out."

She tried to push past him, but Sly was trying to get out at the same time, so when they did manage to get out, they fell in a heap on the ground. Merah quickly got to her feet, for she had landed on top of Sly.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," He said, getting up. "I've had worse. Besides, it's not every day a beautiful girl lands on top of you, is it?"

Merah looked daggers at him. "I'm not even going to say anything."

She scooped up her hat, which had fallen off when Sly's arm hit her head, and her cane.

"You may as well come to my place," Sly said, picking up his own cane. "Your house won't be very livable. It's still burning."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Merah asked suddenly. Sly was slightly taken aback.

"Well… I kind of owe it to you, right?" He said. "I mean… my family did kind of mess up your family's reputation. So it's only fair."

Merah surveyed Sly for a minute, and then she said slowly. "Well… I guess I could… No funny business, though!"

"I wouldn't dream of it Miss Ringo," He said.

"Just call me Merah," She said. He nodded, and then she followed him to his place.

* * *

Once at the small train-car, Sly help open the door for her.

"Sorry it's not much," He said. "It's pretty cozy, though, for how small it is. I just haven't gotten around to buying a mansion, yet."

"You're rich?" Merah asked.

"Sort of," He said. "It's loot that had been collected for a long time."

"Ah," Merah said. "The vault."

"You know everything, don't you?" Sly asked with a smile as he close the door behind them.

"I'm your shadow, remember?" She said simply.

"What else do you know?" He asked.

"I know you are five feet, twelve inches, and that you weigh a hundred and twenty-five pounds. You were born on the 12th of August."

"Impressive," Sly said. "Your brother must be a computer wiz."

"Oh, yeah," She said, sitting down at the small, round table. "One of the best."

"You obviously haven't met Bentley," Sly said. "He can hack… anything. And really quick, too. He's also one heck of a demolitions expert, and a master at flying an RC chopper."

"He's a member of your team?" She asked, pointing to a picture frame. It was a photo of Sly, a turtle and a hippopotamus.

"Yeah," Sly said. "And the big guy is Murray. He's the brawn of the team. And the getaway driver. You should see him handle the van he has."

"It sounds like your really good friends," She said, smiling. Sly smiled back.

"Yeah… we grew up together." Sly said. Then he asked slowly, "How… and Why… did you become a thief?"

"My dad," She said softly. "He was a good thief. Really good. He trained himself in everything. Our family learned all the moves by watching your family, because we didn't have the book. Dad didn't believe we needed it, though. He preferred to take time and learn things, to perfect it, and master it, than to just read about it, and suddenly obtain the ability to do it."

"Your father was a smart man," Sly said.

Merah nodded. "He was. About _that_, anyway. He wasn't smart about Max and I, though. For some reason, he didn't want both of us to become thieves. No, he didn't want me to become a thief. I guess it was because I look so much like my Mom, and… she died when I was eight. In a shooting."

"I'm sorry," Sly said.

"It's okay," She said. "We got along just fine. Of course, it was a bit harder for my dad to explain stuff me when I got older." She gave a small chuckle. "Then… My Dad died… in a heist. So now it's just Max and I. I'm the thief now because I was more interested in the thieving part of the family's 'business', if you will. Max wasn't really good at it anyway, he was too… bulky, I guess."

"I never became master thief until I defeated Clockwerk," Sly said. "A group called the Fiendish Five stole the book, killed my parents, and took off. I had to steal back every page of that book. And it was worth it."

"Sorry about your parents," Merah said. But then she smiled. "You know, you're not like the Coopers I've been told about. You're honest."

"You mean honest for a thief?" Sly answered with a charming smile.

"I mean as just a person," She said. "I'm actually kind of amazed how wrong my family was about yours."

"I'm thinking it was only Socrates who was dishonest," Sly said. "He did tick off Clockwerk for no reason, after all, and—"

"Ah… no, that's not it," Merah said awkwardly. "Lucien actually told Clockwerk to go after Socrates… so… technically; it's kind of the Ringo family's fault for Clockwerk plaguing you for generations."

"Ah," Sly said. "You know, generally I'd be mad, but Clockwerk is long, long gone. So it's okay."

Merah smiled, and gave a small laugh. "Good."

She looked over at the Thievius Raccoonus, which was sitting on a shelf Sly had placed it on, and just gazed at it for a bit. Sly watched her for a minute, and then he got to his feet, picked up the book, and set it front of her. She gave him a look.

"You can read it," He said. "It's only fair. It sort of belongs to you, too."

"No," Merah said, pushing it away. "No, it doesn't. Its secrets your family passed down. I couldn't possibly--"

"Are you having second thoughts about surpassing my reputation?" Sly asked jokingly. To his surprise, Merah nodded.

"Now that I've got to know you a bit," She said. "Maybe I should just give up what the Ringo family has been trying to accomplish."

"You know, it's really alright if you do," Sly said. Then he whispered in her ear, "Trust me, it'll help with your rail-walk."

Merah bit her lip, and the looked up at him. "It was bad, then?"

"It _could _use a little work," He confessed. Then he started to laugh when Merah practically dove for the book that she had pushed into the middle of the table. "Alright, then, it's settled."

So, Merah Ringo, who was quickly becoming a new, good friend, sat in a comfortable chair, and read through the thieving secrets of the Cooper Clan…

* * *

**A/N:** Iffy chapter, I think. Not my best. A bit choppy, I'd say. But whatever. No one's perfect.

See you all next update! D


	3. Ch 3: The Shadow Organization

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Sly Cooper, I'd be making the next game right now.

* * *

**_Chapter Three: Sly's e-mail and the Shadow Organization_**

_**Last Time:**_

Sly watched Merah for a minute, and then he got to his feet, picked up the book, and set it front of her. She gave him a look.

"You can read it," He said. "It's only fair. It sort of belongs to you, too."

"No," Merah said, pushing it away. "No, it doesn't. Its secrets your family passed down. I couldn't possibly--"

"You know, it's really alright if you do," Sly said. Then he whispered in her ear, "Trust me, it'll help with your rail-walk."

Merah bit her lip, and the looked up at him. "It was bad, then?"

"It _could _use a little work," He confessed. Then he started to laugh when Merah practically dove for the book that she had pushed into the middle of the table. "Alright, then, it's settled."

So, Merah Ringo, who was quickly becoming a new, good friend, sat in a comfortable chair, and read through the thieving secrets of the Cooper Clan…

* * *

"Stupid computer…" Sly muttered. He was waiting for his, or rather, Bentley's, old lap-top to boot up. Merah was still reading. Or so Sly thought. He heard the book snap shut, and he turned to see Merah, who was pulling her hair back into a pony-tail, had put it back on its shelf where Sly had got it.

"Thanks for letting me read it," She said.

"No problem," Sly said, grinning at her. He pointed to the small fridge across the room. "By the way, just take anything you need. I'll go buy some stuff later."

"Buy?" Merah asked in mock-amazement. "You won't steal?"

"I don't steal petty things," Sly said. He flashed a charming smile at her again, and said, "Surely, you of all people would know that."

Merah had to laugh at this, and she went over to the fridge to get something to eat. Sly watched her go. For some reason, he felt a little intrigued by her. She also kind of reminded him of Carmelita. She had a shot fuse, an attitude, and drop-dead good-looks. Sly liked women like that. But remember, Merah was almost as beautiful as Miss Fox. _Almost._

The computer was fully booted now, and Sly logged into his e-mail account. He deleted all the junk, and was sorry to see there was nothing from… anyone. No Bentley, no Murray, though he wasn't likely to use a computer, no Penelope, though of course she was with Bentley, no Panda King, and not even something from Dimitri. Sly suddenly felt lonely again. But he quickly pushed it aside, and began to type an e-mail out to Bentley.

_Hey Wizard,_

_Long time no see. I've been worrying about you guys! _

_Listen, I need your help. Again. A ran into a girl named Merah who needs our help to find her brother. Of course, this is also just an excuse to see you guys again; I'm hating the isolation. Get the team together, and come over to the old hideout on the outskirts of Paris. I'm still there. I'll be looking out for the team van._

_Thanks, Bentley._

_Sly_

Sly didn't know Merah had been reading over his shoulder until she spoke. He jumped, and hit the send button at the same time.

"You didn't have to drag a whole search party out to look for him!" She said, sounding a little distressed.

"Well, I know Max is important to you," Sly said. Merah raised a brow at him.

"I don't think it's a good idea that so many people know about me, though. I mean, I practically don't exist. I'm _you_, remember? Well… the image of you… but you get the point."

"Trust me, you'll thank me," Sly said, smiling. "Besides, I want you to meet them."

She sighed. There was no point complaining about it. Sly sent the e-mail already. So she smiled, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright. Okay."

"Nice," Sly said. Then he sauntered his way over to the fridge to get a drink. Merah watched him go, and then she looked at the clock on the wall.

"It's three thirty," She said randomly. Sly nodded.

"Yep," He said. "It is."

He drained his glass, and then sighed. "I'm tired."

"Yeah, me too. I don't think either of us has slept for almost twenty-four hours." Merah said.

Sly beckoned her to follow, and he showed her to another train-car that Merah didn't know was even there. It was the bed-room. Three beds were crammed into it. They were all different sizes. A big one, a medium one, and a small one. Merah looked at around, and had to laugh a bit.

"Well, Sly, it looks like the Three Bears have taken up your sleeping quarters," She said. Sly laughed.

"It looks that way, doesn't it?" He said. "Here… you can take my bed. It's a softer mattress that Murray's, and Bentley's bed is too small for either of us."

"What about you?" Merah asked. She felt bad for taking his bed when there were two others. Well… one other. We'll just forget Bentley's bed.

"I can crash anywhere," Sly said. "I'll just sleep on Murray's. It's no different than sleeping on the floor, anyway. I never got why he liked his mattresses so… stiff."

"Alright…" Merah said slowly. "Well… thanks. For… everything. I owe you a lot."

"No need," Sly said. Then, putting on a dashing smile, he added, "I always enjoy helping out a beautiful young lady."

Merah laughed, and plopped onto her temporary bed. "Good-night, Cooper."

"Sleep-tight, Ringo," Sly said, and he went to turn off the light so they could sleep.

It felt good to go to sleep. Merah hadn't had a mattress this comfortable in a long time. She fluffed her pillow, and snuggled into it, letting sleep take her…

* * *

Merah didn't know how long she had slept for, but she was suddenly woken by a sound coming from the other train-car. Glass has been broken. Then all was silent. She lay stock-still, holding her breath, trying to pick up the slightest sound. Then she heard whispers.

Merah looked over to Sly, who appeared to still be sleeping. She crawled out of bed, and kneeled next to him, and gently shook his shoulder.

"Sly, wake up," She whispered. "I think might be someone--"

He suddenly pressed a finger to her lips, and she saw he wasn't asleep at all. He was doing the same thing she had been doing, listening. Sly slowly moved to sit up, and he held a finger to his own lips, telling her to stay quiet. She nodded, and he took his hand away from her mouth.

Sly stood up, and silently crept to the door to grab his cane, and Merah saw him glance out the window of the door to the other train-car. Then he tossed her own cane to her, and she stood up to follow him.

Sly opened the door really slowly and carefully, so it wouldn't creek and give them away, and then he kneeled and crept to the other door, and opened that one just a crack. He listened carefully to the whispers. There seemed to be at least three people in there.

"He does_sss_en't keep it very _sss_safe, does_sss _he?" A woman's voice whispered. Sly didn't like the way she spoke. It was all hissy…

"Who cares?" A gruff and slightly louder voice answered. The owner spoke with an accent, similar to the way Muggshot spoke. "Let's jus' grab tha thing, and go."

"It seems almost too easy, though," A quiet and slightly menacing-sounding voice said.

"Just grab it," The gruff voice ordered. "Then we can get outta here."

Sly felt a soft hand on his arm, and he turned to look to see Merah. She was biting her lip in worry, and her eyes were looking at him questioningly, as if asking what they should do. He held up his hand to signal to wait, and he turned back to the door. He wanted to figure out what they were trying to steal.

"Why do we want it, anyway?" The menacing voice asked.

"The Mas_sss_ter has_sss _reques_sss_ted that we bring it to him," The woman's voice said. "He _sss_says_sss _he wants_sss _the Cooper Clan des_sss_troyed. And what better way to do it than to us_sss_e their own moves_sss_. And to know the moves_sss_, we mus_sss_t _sss_steal the Thievius_sss _Raccoonus_sss_."

"Over my dead body," Sly said, and he burst into the room, cane ready.

"It's Cooper!" The gruff voice said. Sly couldn't tell who the voices belonged to, because it was still dark.

"Get him!" The woman's voice hissed, and Sly felt something fall in front of him, but he saw nothing. Then a big-ugly lizard's face seemed to materialize out of no where, and he used his long tongue to whack Sly in the face, and knock him out.

"Sly!"

He heard Merah yell his name after he felt his back make contact with the wall. Then he heard fades voices of Merah struggling to get away from someone, and then something heavy falling to the floor, and the hissy lady's voice saying, "S_sss_hadow, Mis_sss_ter Bun-Bun, let's_sss_ leave now."

"N-no…" Sly muttered weakly before he fell unconscious.

* * *

"Sly," A familiar voice called distantly. "Sly? Sly, wake up."

Sly put a hand to his forehead, and groaned before he slowly opened his eyes. The blurry image of Penelope slowly came into focus.

"There you are," She said brightly, smiling at him. She put a hand on his head, and then said, "Ooh, you got quite the bump there… but you'll be okay." Then she looked off to the left, and called, "He's awake!"

"Ow," Sly groaned. "Not so loud, Penelope, I have a splitting head – _Penelope_?"

"The one and only," She said happily and Sly sat up, finding he was on Murray's bed again, and he hugged her.

"You're here!" He said happily. "In… the hideout! Is everyone else here?"

"Sly!" A big, booming voice yelled as if on cue (Sly winced from his headache), and he saw Murray bounding into the room with the Guru perched on his shoulder.

"How's it going, Murray?" Sly asked, but then Murray grabbed Sly in a spine-crushing hug. Sly gasped for air, but managed to choke out, "Still good?"

"Careful, Murray," Penelope fretted, trying to pry Murray's big body away from Sly. "You'll hurt him!"

"Oh," Murray said, letting him go. "Sorry."

"S'ok," Sly said, cracking his neck. Then the Guru spoke up and said some sort of gibberishto Sly, who could miraculously seem to understand him. "Good to see you, too, Guru."

"Bentley's in with that pretty raccoon girl in the kitchen," Penelope said, and Sly noticed a slight hint of jealousy in her voice. "She insisted on making this… 'potion' thing for you. Who is she anyway?"

"Oh, Merah?" Sly asked.

"So that's her name," Penelope replied in a dark tone, glaring at the door. "I knew a pretty girl like her must've had a pretty name."

"She's okay, though, right?" Sly asked.

"Oh, yeah, she's fine," Penelope answered, annoyed. "Giving orders left and right like we don't know how to do things for ourselves. Sheesh!"

"Move it," Sly heard Merahorder from behind Murray, and he jumped away. She was holding a cup of… something that Sly assumed must've been the potion Penelope had talked about. Then she kneeled next to Sly's bed, and handed him the cup.

"Drink it," She ordered. "It'll help with pain."

"But what is it?" Sly asked nervously. Merah just used her hand to put the cup to Sly's mouth and tip it backwards so he'd drink. He coughed and spluttered, so Merah let him get his breath back.

"That's disgusting!" Sly shouted. "What is it?"

"Again," Merah said simply, and she forced Sly to down it. He didn't, because he started to cough from the horrid taste again. After he shoved the cup back at her, she looked in it, and said, "Good enough."

"I'll ask again," Sly said after he had stopped coughing. "What is it?"

"It's a concoction of natural herbs, lemon, water, and… vinegar." She said. "It's a tradition in my mother's family; she used to make it all the time for Max and I when we were sick, or hurt."

"She could've improved on the flavor," Sly answered. Merah just smile, and got up to turn away.

"You'll thank me," She said and left to go back to the kitchen. Penelope glared after her.

"'_You'll thank me_'!" Penelope imitated her words, and then scoffed. "What a bi--"

"Sly!" Bentley said, wheeling up to them, cutting Penelope off. "How are you? Are you alright?"

"Yeah," He said. "Just a headache. When did you get here?"

"About an hour after the robbery," Bentley said. "We came inside, and found everything messed up, and Merah just trying to sit up on the floor. We asked her what happened, she told us, and we got you into bed. The guy who hit you must've hit you pretty hard."

"He did," Sly said. Merah came back in then, and he looked at her. "They knocked you out, too?"

"Yeah," She said softly. "Though not as badly. One of the guys just jabbed me in the neck, and that's what made me go. But… they managed to get away with the Thievius Raccoonus. I'm sorry, Sly…"

He sighed, and rubbed his eyes for a minute, then said, "It's okay…"

Merah could tell it really wasn't, so she kneeled next to him again, and put a hand on his arm. "So… I was thinking, since we had to go out and find Max anyway, I could help you find the book."

Sly looked at her sharply. She smiled.

"We'll be even," She continued. "And after all this is over, we can go back to being ourselves. Okay?"

Sly had to chuckle. She definitely didn't give up, this girl. "Okay,"

"Great!" Merah said. She was pumped for this trip.

* * *

Bentley immediately went on the computer the after Sly told him that he knew the names of two of his attackers. Shadow and Mister Bun-Bun. Bentley searched them up, and he found that they were only two out of five members of the group called The Shadow Organization. The fifth and final member was a complete and total mystery. The only photos Bentley could scrounge up of him weren't very good quality, and the ones that were good quality, his face was all in shadow. All they could tell was that this guy wore a grey, pin-stripped suit in every photo.

The closest member, Shadow, reminded them very much of their friend Dimitri. Only Shadow was better-looking. Shadow was a gecko that used his ability to blend in as an advantage for stealing. When he was younger, he'd steal pocket-money from kids his age, for they'd be easier to bully if he got caught.

He now ran a business selling copied paintings, such as the Mona Lisa, and many other wondrous works. He was holding the Thievius Raccoonus for 'The Master'; the guy who wore the pin-stripped suit in every photo we found. Bentley found he was like the ring-leader of this little circus. But going against The Master's wishes, Shadow, and the other members of the Shadow Organization were going to pass the book around amongst each other so they could each read it. Well, you all know that Sly wasn't about to let that happen. And new team-member Merah wasn't about to let that happen, either.

Shadow owned a huge manor-house on the other side of Paris. So, after packing lots of provisions, and supplies, they all hopped into the team van. Merah was still excited about going on such an adventure with so many great people. That is, until she realized she was stuck in the back of the van with huffy, stuffy, jealous Penelope and un-talkative Bentley. They were both giving her suspicious looks, and Merah's mood quickly took a nose-dive from great to sour. Sly noticed Merah didn't seem to be too happy, but then again, it did seem kind of weird that Merah was wearing the exact same outfit as him. He'd tell the guys everything later.

They stopped to get some gas for at least the fifth time, and Merah got out of the van to stretch her legs. She paced back and forth next to the van, thinking. Was this really a good idea that she had joined the Cooper Gang? Especially when everyone, especially Penelope, looking at her like she was some kind of… she couldn't think of a word to describe what they must've thought of her, but she knew they didn't like her. She continued to pace until She walked right into Sly.

"Oh!" Merah said in surprise. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you,"

"Are you alright?" Sly asked, sounding a little concerned. "You don't seem like you're enjoying the trip much."

"No, I am," Merah said, smiling, but Sly raised a brow. She sighed. "Okay, not as much as I thought I would. It just seems like… I'm out of place."

"Is Penelope giving you a hard time?" Sly asked. Merah chuckled a bit.

"If you count the dangerous glares as giving me a hard time, then yeah, I'm… afraid she is."

"She'll lighten up," Sly said, patting Merah on the shoulder. "Penelope's been the only girl on the team for a while, so to suddenly have another girl on the team – especially one as beautiful as you are," Sly threw that in with a wink, making Merah give him a small smile. "I guess she feels kind of like she needs to protect her… position, I guess."

Merah let out a deep exhale, and then said, "Okay… sorry for being such a spoiled brat."

"You weren't," Sly said seriously. "You have a right to feel that way."

"C'mon, Sly, she's all filled up!" Murray called.

"Right-o, Murray, just a sec," Sly called back, then he turned back to Merah. "I'll talk to them for you."

"Thanks," Merah said, and she gave Sly a friendly punch in the arm before going to the back of the van so she could climb in again. Sly was shot-gun, so he got into the front with Murray. Then they were off again.

* * *

"Okay," Bentley said. They were now near Shadow's manor, and had decided the van would be the temporary safe-house. They didn't expect this to take too long. Penelope didn't get strong readings of security. "Sly and Merah are going to take recon. Try and get pictures of any security you can find, and photos of the Shadow Organization members. As far as I know, The Master is supposed to be coming by here soon."

"Sure thing, Bentley," Sly said. Then Bentley looked at Merah.

"I've taken the liberty of making a Binoc-u-com for you," He said, handing a black, binocular-shaped device to her. She took it, and looked at it curiously. "It can take photographs, it has an excellent zoom, and it's also a two-way radio."

"It's also one snazzy and helpful piece of equipment," Sly added with a grin.

"Sweet," Merah said, giving Bentley a smile. "Thanks, Bentley."

"Come on, let's go," Sly said to Merah, and they said good-bye to the others, and headed off together.

"Okay," Sly said. "I'll take this way, and you take that way. You're smaller than me, so you'll be able to crawl through the vents to take photos. I'll try and find where the Thievius Raccoonus is, and see how much security Shadow has it locked down with and you just take pictures of the others Organization members? Aright?"

"Sounds like a plan," Merah said with a smile. "See you back at the van."

* * *

After she had crawled her way through the vents and found her way to a balcony that over-looked the 'lobby', if you will, Merah kept to the shadows, and held up her Binoc-u-com. She took a photo of Shadow himself, and then she took a picture of the lady he was talking to; she was a snake. A cobra, to be exact. She wore elaborate, African clothing, with a golden, intricately-designed head-dress, like a sort of crown. Her eyes were yellow with slits for pupils, and her scales were a brownish-golden color which faded out to black at her tail. Merah thought she looked kind of… scary.

Next, she took a picture of a handsome, regal-looking fox. Merah could tell he was rich, for he wore grand, gold-trimmed clothing. He leaned against his cane with his top-hat in his other hand. He was cut in a V shape, and he stood with his chest puffed out, as if he was overly-sure of himself. And he was talking with a rabbit. But… he was the most muscular rabbit Merah had ever seen. His muscles were huge! He had a gruff, mean look about him, and he looked like he could beat anyone who came up to him.

Lastly, there was the guy whose face they couldn't see. The Master, he was called. And even now, Merah couldn't see his face, for it was hidden in shadow. But she could tell it was him, because we wore that same, grey, pin-stripped suit. She snapped a picture of him, and then took to snapping pictures of stuff around the lobby, like alarms, and security cameras. And then she traveled back through the vents so she could head back to the van.

Once outside, she ran into Sly, who was looked excited. He told her he found the book, and there was barely any security guarding it at all. He just had to figure out a way to get to the balcony where it was being kept. He radioed Bentley, and told him, and the turtle was so happy, he practically ordered Sly to go and get it.

"I don't need telling twice, Bentley," Sly said, and he beckoned Merah to follow.

"The vents run all the way around the house," Merah whispered. "I can go through them, bash up the security, and grab the book. It'll take me five minutes."

"I'll come with you in case anyone accidentally stumbles across you," Sly said. "I'll have to squeeze through the vents, though."

They made their way through the vents with Sly following Merah, and she quickly found the way to the Thievius Raccoonus. Sly was glad. He was getting a little claustrophobic in the small vents.

"Alrighty," Merah said. "You keep watch."

She quickly and with great maneuverability, smashed all the security cameras, disconnected the alarms, and dodged the lazars that protected the Thievius Raccoonus. She then used a hair-pin from her belt to pick the pad-lock on the Plexiglas case where the book was kept, and opened it. She was just about to grab the book when she was suddenly thrown at Sly's feet. She sat up, and saw Shadow materializing from where he was hidden, and he leaped off the case at Merah with a snarl.

"I got him!" Sly shouted, and he went into a battle with Shadow as Merah went for the book again. But this time that snake lady came into the action, and grabbed the book before Merah could get it.

"S_sss_orry," She said with a hissing chuckle, and he quickly slithered away. Merah went after her, but she used her tail to shove Merah back. She had lost her. So she went to help Sly.

He had knocked out Shadow, and now Bentley was on the radio, yelling at them to get out of there because Carmelita was coming.

"Why does she show up everywhere?" Merah asked in alarm. Sly grinned.

"I'll come in a bit, Bentley. I'm sending Merah back to you. I'm going to have a little tango with the Inspector before I join you guys, okay?" Sly said. Merah looked at him disbelievingly.

"Are you nuts?" She asked.

"Go back to the van," Sly said, giving her a gentle push towards the vents. "I'll meet you there."

She watched as he dashed off down the hall, and then Merah glared at his retreating back, and crossed her arms.

"Typical man," She muttered. "Typical Cooper."

* * *

Merah was back in the van now, which was parked on the street, looking out for Sly to come. Murray was anxiously drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, and Penelope and Bentley were ready to slam the back doors closed as soon as Sly jumped in. Merah saw him coming around a corner, and she signaled Murray to get ready to drive away as soon as he heard the doors close.

Sly landed on the floor of the van, all smiles, and Bentley and Penelope slammed the doors shut as Murray put the van in gear, and sped off. Sly sat up, and gave a small cheer.

"She's so easy to get worked up," Sly said. Merah glared at him.

"Are you crazy?" She snapped. "You could have been arrested!"

"Yeah, but I wasn't," Sly said with a smile.

"But what if you had been?" Merah answered, her voice still angry. Sly just looked at her.

"What's the matter with you?" He asked.

"I think I should be directing that question towards you, Sly, because _I _happen to be very sane. You on the other hand, should be a little bit worried, because jumping out in front of a cop like that is… is… ridiculous!"

"Don't worry about it, Merah," Murray said. "Sly goes off to see Carmelita all the time."

"Murray, this isn't helping," Sly said. "But thanks, pal."

"I honestly can't believe you," Merah said suddenly, and she got up and hopped into the front seat as shot-gun. Sly just sighed.

"Told you she was a bi--" Penelope started in a whisper so only he could hear, but Sly cut her off.

"Penelope, just… don't." He said. "Leave her alone."

Merah didn't know why she was suddenly so angry at Sly for going out and taunting Carmelita. She wasn't jealous, or anything. She didn't even have any feelings for Sly. But with all the compliments he gave, telling her she was beautiful, and talented, and then for him to go off and see Carmelita, she felt a little… betrayed. Not to mention the fact she was angry for losing the book. Her mood stayed that way until they reached their new destination:

Cairo, Egypt, where they would try to steal the Thievius Raccoonus from Nyoka.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, well, well. Merah doesn't seem to happy, does she?

Next chapter will feature more Murray and the van. Hope you liked this one! R & R!


	4. Ch 4: The race and Sly's realization

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Four: The race, and Sly's slow realization_**

* * *

**Discalimer:** No. I don't own it. But Merah, and all villans in the story belong to me and my friend Wes.

* * *

**__**

_**Last Time:**_

Merah didn't know why she was suddenly so angry at Sly for going out and taunting Carmelita. But with all the compliments he gave, telling her she was beautiful, and talented, and then for him to go off and see Carmelita, she felt a little… betrayed. Not to mention the fact she was angry for losing the book. Her mood stayed that way until they reached their new destination:

Cairo, Egypt, where they would try to steal the Thievius Raccoonus from Nyoka.

* * *

On their way to Cairo, Bentley looked up some information on the next Shadow Organization Member, Nyoka. She was the creepy snake lady who had gotten the book from Merah.

Born into a family of assassins, Nyoka's father had killed off her brothers and sisters, as well as her mother. She was spared because she had been away from the house at the time. After finding out what her father had done, Nyoka tried to avenge her family, and killed him. After living alone and poorly for a few years, she found that she had a talent for mechanics and business. What better way than to combine the two than start her own amateur, illegal street-racing club?

Also, she appears to be having a celebration party for her success in the racing business. It's a big thing, and only important people will be there. As well as the winning team of her next tournament.

Bentley decided after finding this out that Murray should sign up and race with the van. He and Penelope would install a turbo boost to give Murray a good head-start, and another jolt of power just before he crossed the finish line. Nyoka should be holding the Thievius Raccoonus somewhere where she's holding her party. Bentley suggested to Sly, since they made such a 'perfect couple', that he and Merah should distract the crowd with dancing while Penelope and himself stole the book, and Murray stood guard while they did it. Sly thought this was a good idea, but Merah, who was still angry with him, put her foot down.

Oh, well. It was a long drive to Cairo anyway, and for the time it would take to install the turbo boost, and get team jackets (Bentley found out the entire team had to be wearing the same colors as the van; competition rules…), Sly thought Merah would have cooled down by then.

* * *

It was a week after the affair at Shadow's manor. Carmelita had arrested him, so now he was in jail with all the other criminals she had gotten instead of Sly. They were parked on the side of the deserted high-way right now, because Bentley and Penelope, who had designed the turbo boost together, wanted to install it now to give it a test-drive on the wide, open highway. And the fact that they had run out of gas was a big factor, too. Luckily, Murray kept a few spare containers of it under the driver's seat for long trips like this.

After the van was filled up, Murray checked the engine to make sure it was in perfect condition for the race. He would install some new features on that, too, for it would be put through a lot of work on the race-track. And Murray didn't want his baby to die in the middle of a race. Guru helped him.

Merah was sitting on top of the van, her arms crossed, looking moodily out at the vast highway. She was still mad at Sly for his little 'tango' with Carmelita. He could have gotten himself killed! And she didn't understand what Sly saw in her, anyway. She was rude, bad-tempered, and, the real kicker, a _cop_! She and Sly were on opposite sides of the law. How did he ever expect for them to be together when all perfect Carmelita Montoya Fox wanted to do was throw him behind bars? And, to make her even angrier, she just found out from Bentley that Carmelita would be around at the Party after Nyoka's tournament.

Okay… so, maybe she was a little jealous of Carmelita. Alright, alright, a _lot _jealous. She had found herself becoming more and more attracted to Sly with each passing day, even if she did want to kill him at the moment. She didn't understand it. How was it his charming smile and beautiful, gentle brown eyes made her melt? She groaned and smacked herself in the forehead.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" She muttered to herself, her hand making contact with her forehead with every word. Oh, well. At least she was good at hiding her feelings. As far as she knew, Sly didn't suspect a thing. But she felt so stupid! She was like a little girl with a crush. And she knew she definitely didn't want it to be that way.

"Hey, there, beautiful," Sly said, suddenly on top of the roof with her. He sat next to her, and flashed a grin to her. "What are you doing up here all alone?"

"Keeping out of the way," She replied, not looking at him. Sly nodded.

"It's best to just let them do their thing," He said. Then he sighed, and leaned back on his arms. "Man, I can't wait until we get to Cairo."

"And why would that be?" Merah said, pulling her hair back into a pony-tail.

"I like Egypt," Sly said. "It's a little too hot for my liking, but the scenery is what I go for."

"Really?" She answered, sounding interested. "Because I thought you were only looking forward to going because oh-so perfect Carmelita was there."

Sly looked at her in surprise, and he saw she gave him the dirtiest look he'd ever gotten before she hopped off the van roof to the ground, and started to walk up the highway. He groaned, and hopped down after her.

"You're still angry about that?" Sly asked.

Penelope, who was working on installing one of the turbo-boots to the van, looked out from behind it to see Sly and Merah bickering. She shook her head in a pitying way. "She's got quite a temper, doesn't she?"

"Just leave it, Penelope," Bentley said absently, working on the other.

"You don't see why I'm upset?" Merah asked. Sly had asked her why she was so angry, and now she just gave a hollow laugh, and turned away from him, going back down the highway again. "Typical guy!"

"I'd know if you'd just tell me," Sly pressed, jogging after her. She turned to face him, her eyes full of fire.

"You are such a player," She spat. "Saying all this nice stuff to me, like repeatedly telling me I'm beautiful, being the Prince Charming, and then when your… your… your girlfriend, or whatever the heck she is, comes by, you forget all about me! So excuse me if I feel just a little bit like your pastime until the bigger hobby comes around!"

"Oh, I see," Sly said, smiling as she walked away from him. He followed her. "You're jealous."

"I'm not jealous," She answered darkly.

"Admit it," He pressed, trying to annoy her. He wanted to bug her enough so she'd blow up and spill the beans about what was really bothering her. "You are madly in love with me."

She stopped dead in her tracks, and then she got up right in his face, and hissed, "I would never love a sleazy oaf like you."

Of course, Sly wasn't expecting that. He meant his words as a joke. He didn't expect her to have any feelings for him. But her words told him exactly the opposite. Women don't usually say what they mean. So, when she said she didn't love him, it really meant she did. After giving him one final glare, she was about to walk away again when Sly grabbed her arm, and pulled her to him, giving her a passionate kiss before she had a chance to react. Merah was frozen from shock for a minute, but then she shoved him away, and yelled, "What is your problem! You don't just go around… _kissing _people!"

"I just wanted to see something," He said simply, looking her over.

"What, you wanted to see if I could be another on your list of girls to mess with?" She asked. Then she scoffed, and snapped, "Just… don't talk to me right now, okay?"

She headed back to the van hurriedly, and Sly watched her go, thoughtful. He had kissed her because he wanted to see just how strong her feelings for him were. Of course, she shoved him away instead of kissing back, so still, Sly didn't know. But he knew there was potential there. And he also knew that, even if he found Merah attractive, he still had feelings for Carmelita. He did, right? Yeah. He was sure of it.

'_Merah is going to be so… angry with me for another long time,_' he thought suddenly, feeling a little sad. '_She'll get over it, though. I hope…_'

* * *

They were now in Cairo. Murray was so psyched about the new turbo boosters that were installed on the van, and the engine was equipped with a boost as well to help is last longer and work better with the force and the speed. They were all sporting team jackets, too; blue, with flames up the arms and along the bottom of the jacket up to the middle, and on the back was the Cooper symbol; the raccoon that was painted on the side of the van.

They all dressed in casual clothes to make them looked more relaxed. Penelope just wore her usual attire, as did Bentley, and Sly just wore a pair of baggy pants and a white t-shirt, as did Merah. She had her hair tied back in a pony-tail again.

Though she still wasn't particularly psyched at the fact that she had to spend most of the up-coming party alone with Sly, she wasn't as angry with him anymore. On the contrary, she was a bit shyer with him now than anything. Probably because of the kiss. But she hid her shyness from all of them, and faced the up-coming race with enthusiasm.

The race course would just be a couple of laps around a circular track. It was on sand, and the whole point of this race was speed. Most of the other racers had upgraded their vehicles with double-engines to help them go faster, and all their cars were good on sand. But Murray felt confident that they would win; the van hadn't let him down yet.

Murray went to the starting line after lots of good luck from his team, and when the race started, he used the boots to get off into first right off the bat. Penelope jumped up and down delightedly, clapping her hands while Bentley did a couple of wheelies with his chair. They were so excited their turbo had worked so well in the race. Merah laughed at them, and then for some reason, looked up into the spectator stands. She saw Nyoka sitting there with the regal-looking fox she had taken a picture of in Shadow's manor. She saw they were talking, and she wondered if they were talking about the Thievius Raccoonus. Forgetting that she was being shy with Sly, she nudged him, and nodded up to the spectator stands. He saw Nyoka and that fox-guy, and he nodded. Bentley and Penelope were too involved with the race to realize that they had gone somewhere, so together, he and Merah went to the stands. They climbed up the stairs to the top, where there was like a little platform for people to stand up on and watch the race, though there was no one there right now. Merah was glad to see that Nyoka and her friend were in the row right in front of the platform.

"We have to get over there without being suspicious," Merah whispered to Sly.

"Why?" He asked. She pulled a mini voice recorder from her pocket.

"We're going to eavesdrop and see if they have any information of where the Thievius Raccoonus might be," She said with a sly little smirk.

"Excellent," Sly said, impressed. "What are we going to do to not seem suspicious?"

"I… I don't know," Merah confessed. "Simply watching the race would seem a little bit too… obvious. We need something different."

"I think I have an idea," Sly said slowly, but there was a smirk crossing his features. Merah could read him instantly. It involved kissing again.

"Oh, no," She said. "No. You are such a player! Why do you keep doing that?"

"Look, it's either get what we want, or try and find the book on our own, and for all we know, there could be dozens of rooms in Nyoka's place. And besides, Bentley said we have to look like a couple while we're out here." Sly said. Merah crossed her arms, and thought about it for a minute. Why did he suddenly insist on kissing her all the time? But he was right; if they wanted to know where the book was, she had to do what she had to do.

"Fine," She sighed. "Just let me set the tape."

"Okay." Sly answered. He didn't show it, but for some reason, the chance to be able to kiss Merah as much as he wanted… intrigued him. Then he suddenly felt worried. And a little scared. He knew there was something there for Merah. Actually, he had felt it when he first met her. He supposed it had been her strong attitude that attracted him. But now it was starting to go a little bit beyond attraction.

"Okay," Merah said, breaking Sly out of his thoughts. "Let's get this over with…"

"Be sure to _pretend _you enjoy it," Sly said with a grin, masking the little bit of worry and the slight bit of fear he felt. He took her hand, and started to lead her near Nyoka and the fox guy. Merah flashed him a beautiful smile, and answered sweetly with a flirty tilt of her head, "Of course, honey."

Sly laughed, and then gently leaned in to kiss her. When he did, it took Merah a minute to return it, but she did, and Sly found she was actually a good kisser. He heard the soft click of the record button being pressed on her recorder in her coat pocket, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck. It was all to complete the illusion that they were a happy, madly-in-love couple. Sly knew that, but he didn't mind. He used that as an excuse to pull her closer to him.

"There are _sss_some good rac_sss_ers here today," Nyoka said to her friend.

"Indeed," He replied. He had a slight British accent. "Thought racers aren't exactly what I've been looking forward to seeing, I'm afraid, Nyoka."

"If you mean the book--" Nyoka started, but the guy cut her off.

"Of course I mean the book," He said. "I want to have it in my possession before the ball. There are important guests who need to be impressed and to have such a historical and rare artifact would be excellent."

"You may pick it up during the party," Nyoka said. "I have no need of it anymore. It's_sss_ in the room near the danc_sss_e floor. On the balcony."

The guy glanced up at Sly and Merah, who were still kissing, and he muttered to Nyoka, "Do you think it wise to have said that aloud when there is a couple right behind us, possibly listening?"

Nyoka looked behind at them as well, and she laughed, and said, "You're jus_sss_t jealous_sss _becaus_sss_e you only wis_sss_h you could do that with_ sss_someone, don't you, Chris_sss_topher?"

Christopher just scoffed, and looked back at the race, their conversation ended. After a few more seconds to make sure they wouldn't start talking again, Merah gave Sly a gentle push so he'd stop kissing her, and she took his hand, leading him back down the stairs so they could head back to the race.

"Well, we'll know where to look, now." She said. Sly nodded.

"That was a good idea," He said. Merah smiled at him.

"Thanks," She said, and quickly rewound the tape, and played it back. Nyoka's and Christopher's voices played from the small recorder. "We got it. And we got more than we really bargained for. Not only did Nyoka practically tell us where the book was, but Christopher also gave us backup in case we lost it again this time. We know who he is, and we know what he's going to do to show off the book. We also know he's a lonely man with no romantic entanglements. We'll figure something out."

"We expect to lose the book again?" Sly asked.

"Everything with Christopher is just in case we do," Merah said. "I don't expect to. I don't want to. I want to get that book back quickly so I can find Max."

"And we will find Max," Sly said, slipping an arm around her waist, and leading her back over to Bentley and Penelope and the Guru who were cheering Murray on. "But for now, we'll enjoy the race."

"Why do you have your arm around me?" Merah asked suspiciously.

"We have to look like a couple," Sly said. Then he kissed the top of her head. "Right, Pumpkin?"

"I'm going to kill you after we get the book back," Merah said flatly.

"And I love you, too, my little buttercup," Sly said, trying to sound all mushy, lifting her chin, and pressing his nose against hers. Merah laughed, and shoved him off.

"Knock it off, Romeo," She said, and joined Bentley who just gave a triumphant yell. "What's the placing?"

"Murray's in second!" Penelope cried happily. "Just one more lap to go, and if he makes it to first, we're in the party!"

Merah looked out to the race, and saw Murray coming around the bend of a turn. She threw her arms up in the air, and cheered. "Let's go Murray!"

"Final Lap!" The announcer yelled, and people in the crowd cheered.

"By the way," Bentley said, looking at Sly. "What were you two doing, anyway?"

"Just eavesdropping on Nyoka so we might find out where the book might be," Merah said casually.

"But I already know where it is," Bentley said, and Merah blushed.

"Are you serious?" She yelled as Sly cracked up with laughter. She thought she agreed to make out with him so she could get some information when we really, she had just made out with him for nothing.

"What's so funny?" Bentley asked Sly, who was still laughing. Merah glared at Sly.

"Nothing at all, Bentley," She said. "Nothing at all."

"Come on Murray!" Penelope yelled. "Use the boost!"

Murray did, just before the finish line, and he managed to come in first. Penelope went crazy, as did Bentley, who suddenly forgot about Sly and Merah, and trying to figure out their reasoning to go off together. Even Merah suddenly forgot about it. She cheered as Murray did a victory lap, and then came over to them. He jumped out of the van, just as excited and happy as they all were.

"I won, I won!" Murray shouted with joy, and he grabbed each one of the team members in a bone-crushing hug. Even Bentley, who had to have Penelope, Sly, and Merah help him back into his wheel chair.

"Congratulations_sss_," Nyoka's voice said as she slithered over to them. "You are an exc_sss_eption driver. I am holding my party now. You've all won the honor of attending."

"The whole team?" Murray asked.

"Yes_sss_," Nyoka replied. "The whole team. If you will all follow me, pleas_sss_e."

They followed her to a small pyramid that was a short distance away from the race-track. Nyoka whispered a password to the guard at the door, and he let them all inside. Sly had to stick close to Merah, because he was supposed to dance with her, and, again, they had to appear as a couple.

Nyoka lead them down a hall way, and then after whispering another password to another guard, they were allowed into the party.

"Whoa," Merah said as she looked around. There were different colored lights everywhere, and the music was loud. There were dozens of people out on the dance floor, and Sly recognized a few of them as racers from big tournaments and companies, like NASCAR, and whatnot.

"Enjoy yours_sss_elves_sss_," Nyoka said with a smile, and she gave them a small bow before slithering off to talk with some people who were just hanging around by the punch table.

"Okay," Bentley said as soon as Nyoka was out of earshot. "Murray, Penelope, Guru, you all come with me. Sly, Merah… look like a happy couple. Go dance."

After they had gone, Merah turned around to look at Sly, and she said, "You knew that Bentley had found the way to the book, didn't you?"

"Honestly, I didn't," Sly answered seriously, looking her right in the eye. "I thought your idea to eavesdrop was really good. I'm just sorry it was for no reason at all."

Merah sighed. "It's… alright. Just… no more kissing, okay?"

"I promise," Sly said, and he grabbed Merah around the waist, leading her out to the dance floor.

"I should let you know now, I'm not a very good dancer," Merah said. Sly looked at her with surprise.

"What?" He said. "You can't be a thief and not know how to dance."

"I never really got an opportunity to learn how to dance," Merah answered.

"Well, we can wing it," Sly said. But as soon as they stepped onto the dance floor, a slow song came up. Sly grinned at Merah. "What do you know? A ballad."

"Who did you bribe to play a slow song just as we come out onto the dance floor, Cooper?" Merah asked, but she was definitely amused. Sly showed her the inside of his jacket where he had a horseshoe. He usually brought it with him whenever the team needed good-luck. He wore it today so Murray would win that race. Merah looked at it, then at him questioningly.

"Well, I guess I'm just lucky," Sly said softly, and pulled her out to the middle of the floor. He put her arms around his neck before he wrapped his own arms around her waist, and they stayed like that for a while, just rotating on the spot slowly. Then, Merah cleared her throat a bit, and looked away, watching other couples out on the floor. Sly just stared at her while she did. She truly was beautiful. Her eyes were so captivating…

"Are you alright?" Merah asked, now looking back at Sly. He blushed a bit, and cleared his throat, answering while looking away, "Yeah, I'm alright."

"O…kay." Merah said slowly. She noticed that Sly seemed a little bit uncomfortable suddenly, and she felt him take a deep breath. And then the song changed to a faster, more upbeat tune. Merah beckoned Sly to follow her off the dance floor, and he did.

"Fast dances are annoying," Merah said. Sly laughed.

"You don't like to tango?" He asked. She shrugged.

"I've never been a psyched for dancing," She said. "Besides, I don't think I'd be able to find a partner, anyway."

"Why not?" Sly asked.

"I dunno," Merah replied. "Men just… don't seem to take an interest in me."

"Well, of course not," Sly said as if that were obvious. "You've been posing as a man for a long time. If you were to wear a dress, I'm sure maybe they'd notice you."

"I hate dresses," Merah said. "I refuse to wear them."

"Aw, really?" He continued. "Because I think if you wore… y'know, one of those red-satin seductress dresses…"

He thought about what she would look like if she were wearing one, but he felt something come into contact with his cheek, snapping him out of his 'vision'. Merah had slapped him for envisioning her in that particular dress. She gave a sweet, yet twisted smile, and said, "No, Sly. I hate dresses."

He put a hand to his cheek where she slapped him, and rubbed it a bit. "Ow… that hurt."

"Come on, crybaby, let's go see how the others are doing," Merah said, and she dragged him off to go find the rest of the group. What they saw when they found them, though, wasn't good. Carmelita had shown up, and she had the whole group in cuffs. She turned when she heard Sly and Merah come up, and she flashed a small smile in Sly's direction.

"Good to see you, Cooper," She said. "Finally deciding to turn yourself in?"

Merah suddenly got an idea, and she walked towards Carmelita. Before the Inspector knew what was happening, Merah twisted her arm, making her drop her shock-pistol, and now they were throwing punch after kick at each other. It was one intense fight. Sly didn't waste any time, though. He quickly picked the locks on each member's hand-cuffs.

"Another Organization member came and took the book before we got here," Bentley said. "The fox-guy, Christopher."

"We'll get him," Sly said. "Everyone get back to the van, and get it warmed up. Not like it really needs warming in Cairo, though. Merah and I will be out soon."

"Be careful, Sly," Penelope said. As they all hurried away, though, Carmelita had managed to get her shock pistol back, and she aimed it at the team, ready to fire. Just when she was about to pull the trigger, though, Merah jumped on her, knocking the gun out of her hands again.

"Nice try, Carmelita!" Merah said.

Penelope had turned when she heard Carmelita give a yell, and she was surprised to see Merah had stopped the Inspector from shooting at them.

"Penelope, let's go!" Bentley called.

"I'm… I'm coming!" Penelope said, and she followed after Bentley, Murray, and the Guru again. Only this time, she was holding Merah in high regard.

Merah and Carmelita were still fighting, and then Merah saw Sly near a metal fence that went around the balcony where the book was being held. She grinned, and shoved Carmelita near the metal fence, and Sly slapped a cuff on her, cuffing the other side to the fence. Then he and Merah made a break for it out of there. They jumped over the sleeping guards that Bentley took out with his sleep darts in the entrance hallway that Nyoka had lead them through and then shoved open the door. They saw the van right there, and together, they jumped into the van through the back doors Bentley and Penelope were ready to close. They sped off across the sand, past the race track, and away from any cops or Organization members that might've been around.

* * *

Later that night, after they had parked, and got ready to go to sleep, Penelope went up to Merah, and tapped her on the shoulder. Merah looked up at her curiously.

"I just want to say… thank you," Penelope said. "For what you did today back at Nyoka's party. You stopped Carmelita from shooting at us. And Bentley… he would have been really hurt if he had gotten hit… so… thanks."

"Anytime, Penelope," Merah said, smiling at her. "I didn't want any of you to get hurt. We're all part of the same team. That's why I did it."

With a grin, Penelope held her hand out to Merah, and said happily, "Welcome to the team, girl!"

"It's good to be on the team," Merah said, shaking her hand. And then they laughed together before bidding each other good-night. Though they had lost the book again, Merah, for some reason, couldn't feel happier. She had gotten on Penelope's good-side. Maybe the future with this team was looking up after all.

* * *

A/N: I hope it's not too soon that Sly and Merah are starting to fall for one another. P It's just kind of important that they do.

Also, I know it seems like the Guru isn't doing much, but he will in a certain part of the next chapter. So… stay tuned! P Lol R&R!


	5. Ch 5:The Ball, The Fight and Confessions

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Five: The Ball, the Fight, and Confessions_**

* * *

_**Last Time:**_

"I just want to say… thank you," Penelope said. "For what you did today back at Nyoka's party. You stopped Carmelita from shooting at us. And Bentley… he would have been really hurt if he had gotten hit… so… thanks."

"Anytime, Penelope," Merah said, smiling at her. "I didn't want any of you to get hurt. We're all part of the same team. That's why I did it."

They laughed together before bidding each other good-night. Though they had lost the book again, Merah, for some reason, couldn't feel happier. She had gotten on Penelope's good-side. Maybe the future with this team was looking up after all.

* * *

They were on the road again. Bentley was looking up information on the newest Organization member, Christopher. Penelope and Merah were talking about her RC chopper, Sly was asleep in the front seat, and Murray was driving.

"I found Christopher!" Bentley called to Sly, who was sleeping. He didn't stir. Bentley looked over at him and yelled, "Sly!"

"Oh, Bentley, let him sleep," Penelope said as Merah looked over at Sly, who had just shifted slightly in his slumber. "He's exhausted."

"What did you find, Bentley?" Merah asked, going to his side. Penelope followed her.

Bentley had actually discovered quite a lot on Christopher. Lord Christopher Dunford, to be exact. He had been born into a wealthy family, friends of the Queen of England, and after his father died, Christopher became Lord Dunford. His older twin brother, Nicholas Dunford, who was currently working as a cop for Interpol, was supposed to inherit the title, but he left to study law in America.

Christopher made his father's previous business expand greatly by donating many ancient artifacts to local English museums, which paid lots of money, and he was granted his own small castle by the Queen herself after he had saved her from a falling chandelier. He would be holding a ball in his newly-built new home, and many old and very rich aristocrats would be there to admire Christopher's newest 'archeological' gain, the Thievius Raccoonus. Bentley suggested to Merah, since Sly was asleep, that they should attend the ball together, and hopefully they would be able steal the book back without being too conspicuous.

Merah suddenly remembered the table she had reordered, and Nyoka making the comment that Christopher could only wish he could have someone to do with what Sly and Merah had been doing at the time of the recording. He must've been lonely. If she could trick him into showing her where the book was, maybe she could distract him while Sly stole it…

She ran this by Bentley, who listened carefully, and he nodded in agreement.

"That would probably be the best idea," Bentley said. "If you're willing to actually let yourself be escorted by Christopher…"

"I'm not willing," Merah said. "But if it'll get the book back, then I'll do anything I need to."

"Okay," Bentley said. "We'll run this by Sly when he wakes up. Murray, head for England, okay?"

"Sure thing, Bentley," Murray declared.

* * *

They were halfway to England now, and Sly and Merah had kept talking about the plan to steal the book back over and over until they, together, and with Bentley's help, had worked out all the kinks until it seemed flawless. Sly was feeling good about this next plan.

It was a while before they got to England, so the crew just chilled out for the remainder of the trip, relaxing, playing card games and board games, and having a good time. Sly didn't expect to ever in his life see someone beat Bentley at chess. But both Merah and Penelope had done it. Bentley was a little bit upset about it, but he quickly brightened up after Penelope gave him a kiss to make him feel better.

Even Guru seemed to be having a good time. He dazzled them with spells and 'light shows' with his moon-stone, making shapes and symbols in the air. Merah was really impressed by this, as with all her training for trying to become a thief, she never really took some time to herself to go see fireworks on festivals and such. Sly was happy she seemed so thrilled by it, and he made a mental note to himself for some reason that once they got the book back and found her brother, he'd take her somewhere to go watch fireworks.

* * *

"Here," Sly said, handing Merah a white box. "I bought you a dress."

They were in England now, and Merah was laying on one of the beds in the huge hotel suite they had decided to stay at, reading a book. They figured, if someone at the ball that night asked where two young people from France were staying, they would tell them the name of the hotel. Merah glanced at the box Sly held out to her, and then look at him, her eyebrows raised.

"You know I don't like dresses," She said, but sat up all the same.

"Ah, yes, but remember," Sly said, smiling. "This is a formal gathering, and dresses must be worn by women. And besides, you have to attract Christopher, don't you?"

"I suppose…" Merah said. Then she gave him a sideways look and said, "You _bought _me a dress?"

"Look," Sly replied, setting the box in her arms. "Just… go put it on, okay? We have to leave soon."

"Right," Merah said, getting up, and heading to the bathroom to change. "We're leaving… tonight… Aww, I don't want to have to be escorted around by Christopher."

"Why not?" Sly asked.

"He's… I dunno, I just don't… he's not my type." She said. Sly laughed.

"Ah, okay," He said.

"What about you, what are you wearing?" Merah asked.

"A penguin suit I sole two years ago for another formal party like this one," Sly said. He smiled at her. "Go get changed."

"Oh, yes, sir!" Merah said, and she gave a mock salute as she went into the bathroom."

Sly smiled when she closed the door, and he listened carefully for any sign of surprise at all. The dress he had purchased was in fact the same dress he envisioned her in at Nyoka's party, only it was navy blue instead of red. The blue suited her more, he thought.

Twenty minutes later, Merah called Penelope into the bathroom so she could help her with her hair. She sounded a little… whiney when she did it, though, and Sly guessed it was from the dress. He couldn't wait to see her in it though…

In the bathroom, Penelope admired Merah in the dress, giving her all sorts of compliments, even if Merah did feel really uncomfortable in it.

"I'm gonna kill him," Merah said after Penelope said how gorgeous she looked for the umpteenth time.

"Why?" Penelope asked, shocked. "He did a good job of picking it out. It suits you, and the size is perfect."

"I feel too exposed," Merah confessed.

"You look great," Penelope insisted, and she made Merah sit on a stool in front of the mirror so she could get to work on her hair.

Together, the girls decided to leave it down, for putting it up would ruin how nice it looked naturally. All Penelope did was brush it out, part it in the middle, for it was usually parted on the side, let her chin-length bangs frame her face, and put a light spray of hairspray in it. Though it was simple yet beautiful, Merah's hair was so long, nearly waist-length, that she couldn't do anything with it on her own except tie it back into a pony-tail which she did often. Heck, if Merah had her way, she would be going to this ball in jeans and a t-shirt.

After Penelope was finished with her hair, she left to see if Sly was ready while Merah looked at herself doubtfully in the mirror. She was still iffy about the dress… Sly had chosen a sleeveless dress with a plunging neck-line (yes, it was a little lower than she would have liked), and the smooth, silky fabric hugged her body closely, showing off her figure. Many people didn't know it because of the way she dressed, but Merah had a very willowy, hour-glass shaped figure, and this dress enhanced that. Then there was a slit up the left side of the dress that stopped a little higher than mid-thigh, and this showed off Merah's slender legs. Sly definitely knew how to pick a dress that would grab men's attentions. Probably because Sly was a guy who was grabbed by dresses like this, too. Yep, Merah decided. He was dead after this party.

"Sly's ready to go," Penelope said, coming into the bathroom. She was all smiles. "He looks really handsome! Come on out."

Merah took a deep breath as she stepped out of the bathroom, and she stopped when she saw Sly. Her heart started to thump hard in her chest. He looked… _amazing_! The tuxedo we wore made him looked sophisticated and regal. And when she noticed his reaction when he saw her, she blushed. He was staring, mouth slightly agape. Then he cleared his throat.

"You look fabulous," He said, smiling. She gave a small smile back.

"You do, too," She said. Then she noticed his bow-tie wasn't on strait, and she went up to him and fixed it. He gave her a curious look, but his eyes twinkled with amusement. She just smiled a little nervously.

"Sorry," She said. He laughed softly.

"It's alright." They stared at each other for the longest time. But then Bentley cleared his throat.

"You two better get going," He said. Merah glanced at Penelope, who winked at her. She smiled, and turned to Sly.

"Yeah, we'd better move it," She said. Sly offered her his arm, and she took it, and they left the hotel together. Bentley, Penelope, Murray and the Guru all watched them go together.

"You know," Penelope said suddenly. "There is definite chemistry between them. I wouldn't be surprised if they hooked up."

"I don't think any of us would be surprised," Bentley said.

* * *

At the entrance to the ball, Merah suddenly pulled Sly away from going in right away, and dug in his tuxedo pocket until she found what she needed.

"Penelope slipped these into your jacket for me," Merah explained. "I want us to be able to have contact with each other the whole time, even when we're separated. I don't want Christopher to pull any moves on me that'll get me into trouble."

"Understandable," Sly said, taking the ear-piece and mini-mic Merah held out to him. "You're taking a huge risk, willing to let yourself be alone with him. Thanks."

"It's really only to help your get your book back," She said. "And don't thank me just yet; I don't know if I'm going to screw it up."

After their mini communication devices were in place, and working, they proceeded once again together into the ball. Sly presented their invitations, which he had swiped from a young couple, and they made their way with many other pairs into the formal ballroom. Merah tried not to look too amazed when she stepped in, because she was supposed to look like she was used to being in big, elaborate places like this.

Classical music was being played by a mini orchestra in a corner, and there were people out on the dance floor, waltzing. The room was kind of shaped like a dome, he roof painted with clouds and cherubs, with the dance floor being in the centre, and a kind of walkway that went all the way around the room for people who were not dancing to chat and watch those who _were_ dancing. There were two sets of stairs, one in front of Sly and Merah and one at the other end of the room for going onto the dance floor. There was also a kind of in-door balcony at the other end of the room where people were looking at artifacts Christopher was showing off. Merah wondered if the Thievius Raccoonus was up there.

"He's watching you," Sly whispered to her, and she looked at him questioningly. "Christopher. He's watching. He and some rabbit guy who looks like he's on steroids."

"Great," Merah said sarcastically, and Sly laughed.

"Come on, let's go dazzle him with some dancing," Sly said. "You can waltz, yes?"

"Surprisingly I can," Merah said with a smile, and she let Sly lead her onto the dance floor. The music had already started, so Merah let Sly take her right hand as she rested her left on his shoulder, and she felt his hand at her waist as they started to waltz.

"I thought you said you couldn't dance?" Sly questioned, though he was smiling.

"My mother signed me up for ballroom dancing classes when I was six," Merah said, smiling back at him. "It's just like riding a bike; you never forget."

"Well, that explains it," Sly said. "I thought you were just a naturally divine dancer from the beginning."

"Sorry," Merah replied. "I'm afraid I'm not that magical."

The waltz ended, and Sly gave Merah a kiss on the hand, his eyes never leaving hers. She smiled, and she took his arm again as they went to get something to drink.

"He's watching again," Sly observed. Merah didn't bother to look and see if he was right. She could practically feel Christopher's eyes. Sly then loosened his arm from her grip, and said to her, "I don't mean to make you feel like a trophy, but stand here and look pretty while I go get some punch for us. It may encourage Lord Dummy to come over."

Merah laughed at his remark, and waited for him to come back. And, true to Sly's prediction, Christopher did come over, followed by the muscular rabbit. Christopher was wearing a white tuxedo with gold thread pattern around the cuffs and collar. He looked like a duke with the way he had his chest puffed out. The rabbit guy was just wearing a plain tuxedo, but he looked like he was about to rip it off at any moment. Christopher gave Merah a dashing smile, and he took her hand, bending down to kiss it gently before introducing himself.

"Lord Christopher Dunford," He said. Then he directed to his friend. "This is my associate, Mister Bun-Bun."

"What a pleasure to meet you both," Merah said, giving an incline of the head to each of them.

"Excuse me, Chris, I'm gonna go talking with some men from the business," Mister Bun-Bun said, obviously not wanting to be around. He bowed to Merah, though she could tell he hated being formal. "Miss."

She bowed back, and then turned back to Christopher, who said, "May I have the honor of knowing the name of such a beautiful young lady?"

"Rachelle Lavoie," Merah answered, smiling back at him and giving a little courtesy. Both she and Sly had chosen false names for this party. He was Pierre Trouleau. "It is an honor to meet you, Lord Dunford."

"Oh, no, the honor is all mine," Christopher said. Sly came up at that very moment, carrying to glasses of punch. He handed one to Merah before giving an incline of the head to Christopher, who returned it.

"Thank you, Pierre," Merah said. "Lord Dunford, this is my dance partner for this evening, Pierre Trouleau."

"Monsieur Trouleau," Christopher, extending his hand to Sly.

"Lord Dunford," Sly said, shaking his hand briefly.

"I was, perhaps, wondering if I could possibly steal away your beautiful companion for a waltz, Monsieur Trouleau?" Christopher asked, glancing at Merah in a way that made her feel acutely uncomfortable.

"Of course," Sly said. "I don't mind sharing her. That is, if Rachelle doesn't mind."

"Not at all," Merah said to Sly, and she smiled at Christopher. "It would be a pleasure. Please hold my glass for me, Pierre."

"Of course," Sly said, and he took her glass from her. "Enjoy yourselves. Of course, I will be expecting her back before the end of the evening."

"You don't have to worry, Monsieur Trouleau, she's in good hands." Christopher said, and he offered Merah his arm. "Mademoiselle Lavoie."

Merah took it, and she let herself be lead out onto the dance floor by Christopher. Sly watched them go, and he felt a strange emotion that he had never felt before grip him. He felt suddenly angry that Merah was acting so… so cozy towards Christopher. Wait… was he… jealous?

Yes, he was. And Sly didn't like it at all. But why would he be jealous? He knew he had small feelings for Merah, but he never expected to want to go over there, and pull her away from Christopher.

Then he noticed something else that set him off. Christopher hand was awfully low on Merah's waist, and he was holding her so close…

Sly exhaled deeply, and he went to set the punch glasses down somewhere, so he wouldn't have to watch them. But he did watch them, because he had to know when Christopher was going to show her where he was keeping the Thievius Raccoonus. Then he remembered his ear piece, and turned it on, thankful to hear Merah's soft voice coming through it. He could also hear Christopher's voice, which was good, too.

"What sort of relationship do you and Pierre have, exactly?" Sly heard Christopher say, and he looked out at the dance floor, watching them, making sure he didn't try anything on Merah.

"Well," Merah said, sounding thoughtful. "I guess it's been a relationship that's strengthened over the time we've known each other. I'm very fond of him. He's like my best friend. I hold him in highest regard."

"How charming," Christopher said, but Sly picked up on the slight bit of annoyance in his tone, which made him smile. "Now tell me, have you been up to see my collection of artifacts this evening?"

"I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to yet, my Lord," Merah said. "Perhaps you would like to show me yourself?"

The waltz ended then, and Sly felt like he wanted to break something when Christopher kissed her hand, and then slipped an arm around her waist. He could see Christopher's hand roaming around her bare thigh. _Why _did he choose that dress?

"It would be my pleasure." He said.

"But I'm sure Pierre would love to see your artifacts, too," Merah said, pulling away from him. "Perhaps I should go get him?"

"We'll go get him after," Christopher said, pulling her close again, and leading her off to the balcony. "I want to show you something first."

"Really?" Merah said, sounding interested. "I'm curious to know what it is. Maybe my new escort would like to tell me?"

"It's a surprise," Christopher whispered into her ear. She gave him a flirty smile, and let him lead her. Sly was about to go over there and yank her away when Merah looked back to look for him, and when she saw him, she gave him a distressed look. Sly tapped his ear-piece lightly, indicating for her to turn it on, and he saw her reach up to her ear.

"I'm right behind you," Sly said into the mini-mic that was attached to the collar of his jacket. "You're doing a great job, by the way. Truth be told, I'm getting a little jealous."

He saw her give him a smile, and he smiled back, before casually pushing his way past some people so he wouldn't loose Chris and Merah.

Sly followed behind at a good distance so it wouldn't seem like he was following, and saw Christopher lead Merah up a flight of stairs that lead to the balcony where all of his artifacts were displayed. He heard him tell her about some of the artifacts, like where it came from, and its history. But Merah kept insisting on seeing his newest gain.

"I heard from some of the guests that you've recently obtained a new book," She said to him. "A historical artifact that dates back all the way to ancient Greece."

Of course she was talking about when Socrates and Lucien first started the Thievius Raccoonus.

"Ah, yes," Christopher. "It's over here."

He lead her over to a glass cabinet where the book was being held, and Sly, who had climbed up the stairs and was now pretending to examine the remains of some ancient pottery, whispered into the mini-mic, "Get him away from the book, and I'll grab it. I can see from here there's a small little door that I can pull it out of."

"It's such an interesting object," Merah was saying. "I've never seen a leather-bound book as well preserved as this."

"The, uh, minerals of which it was found in helped kept it in good condition." Christopher said.

'_Liar_," Sly thought bitterly.

"Fascinating," Merah said. Then she started to fan herself with her hand. "My Lord, would you mind if I stepped outside for a moment? It seems to be getting very warm in here."

"Of course," Christopher said, and he followed her as she walked to an outdoor balcony into the cool night air. People who had been standing out on it before had just left, and everyone who was on the indoor balcony had gone down to the ball again.

Sly silently and slowly crept past the balcony that they were standing on, but he had to stop when he saw that Christopher was stroking Merah's arm. He could see the uncomfortable look in her eyes, but otherwise, her face looked emotionless. He felt bad for her, and selfish. She was putting herself through the torture of letting Christopher follow her around, and she was doing it for him, Sly. He continued forward a bit, but not looking where he was going (he was too busy making sure Christopher wasn't trying to force himself on Merah), he bumped into a stand that was holding an antique vase. Luckily Sly managed to catch it before it fell, but it made a clattering sound which Christopher heard.

"What was that?" He asked, and was about to look back and spot Sly when Merah suddenly grabbed him by the collar, and planted a serious kiss on him. Sly only stared in astonishment and… shock, and… anger. What the _hell _was she doing!

Merah looked at Sly while she was still kissing Christopher, and she pointed to him, and then into the direction of the book, indicating for him to go get it while she 'distracted' Chris. And then she winced slightly when Christopher's hand slid its way down her backside, but she didn't do anything about it. Sly was too furious to do anything. And then, to make it all worse, Carmelita showed up, wearing the same dress she had worn two years previous as Rajan's party when he was showing off the Clockwerk wings. She had her shock pistol aimed at Sly, and she smirked at him.

"Hello, Cooper," She said. Sly just looked at her with no expression, finally having managed to pull his gaze away from Merah and Christopher.

At Carmelita's words, Christopher pulled away from Merah so fast to look at Sly. Then his eyes widened in anger, and then he looked at Merah, who had already backed away from him. He was furious, for he knew now that she wasn't really Rachelle Lavoie, and he also knew that Sly wasn't really Pierre Trouleau. He was about to slap her, but she kneed him in the stomach, and ran away from him. At the same moment, Sly shoved his way past Carmelita, knocking her gun out of her hands, and he and Merah ran for the exit. They ran until they were back at the van, which is where Bentley had told them to meet up with the rest of the team. Merah spat on the ground after they reached it, and then she wiped her hand over her mouth.

"That was disgusting," She whined. "I still can… fell that perverted jerk's lips against mine."

"What the hell did you do that for, anyway?" Sly demanded, losing his temper. Merah stared at him in disbelief.

"I was giving you a chance to get the Thievius Raccoonus back," She said defensively. "But you were to busy gawking and Chris and I to get it! What was with that?"

"I didn't expect you to _kiss_ him," Sly said. "So, sorry if I was a little bit too shocked to do anything."

"I didn't _want_ to kiss him," Merah said. "I _had _to kiss him! If I didn't, he would've seen you, and we would have been busted."

"We're busted anyway!" Sly said. "But then, if you didn't _want _to kiss him, that still doesn't explain why you didn't do anything about the fact that he kept touching you--"

"Why do you even care?" Merah demanded, cutting him off. "I would have thought you would get mad if someone was doing that to _Carmelita_!"

"Don't start with that again!" Sly ordered. Merah gave him a shove.

"Why not?" She asked, pushing him again. "It's true. You would have been beating on the first guy who dared touch her. Am I right?"

"Why do you care if I would?" Sly asked, blocking her hands so she wouldn't push him again.

"I don't care!" Merah shouted.

"Then why are you making such a big deal about it?" Sly asked.

"I'm not!" Merah yelled. "I'm making my point."

"What point?" Sly yelled. "The fact that I have feelings for Carmelita? Yeah, I do, okay? I admit! I have feelings for her! So what?"

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Merah yelled. "I'm just the pastime until you find the hobby! You are such a sleazy player!"

"If I'm such a sleazy player then, why do you keep freaking out whenever I so much as mention Carmelita?" Sly demanded.

"Because I love you!" Merah yelled. Then they both froze when they realized what she just said. Sly just stared at her.

"What…?" He managed to say weakly. Tears had started to form in her beautiful blue eyes, and she rubbed them in annoyance, trying not to burst into tears.

"You heard me," She said thickly. "I have for a while now. So now you know how I've felt every time you've gone off to see her, or when you talk about her."

She glared at him before a tear escaped her eye, and when this happened she turned away from him, and started to jog away.

"Where are you going?" Sly called.

"None of your business!" She yelled back, and Sly could hear that her tears had started to flow freely now. He sighed, and leaned his forehead against the side of the van. He had messed up big time… he felt so… horrible… Getting angry with himself, Sly punched the side of the van hard, and then went and pounded on the back doors. They opened, and Penelope poked her head out curiously. She smiled at him when she saw him.

"Hey, Sly! How'd it--" She started off happily, but then her face fell when she saw his expression and when he pushed past her without a word. "Hey… what's the matter?"

"Nothing," Sly said flatly, pulling off his bowtie and throwing it on the ground.

"Where's Merah?" Bentley asked. Sly sighed. He had hoped they wouldn't bring up that subject.

"She went for a walk," He said said, and after he had taken off his tuxedo jacket, he left the van again, and climbed up onto its roof. He just sat there for the longest time, staring into space, and then he buried his face in his hands. He couldn't deny it any longer. He'd known it since the beginning of tonight.

He was in love with Merah. And after that fight, he was sure she would want nothing to do with him, now.

* * *

Merah had run as far as she dared, for she knew, even if she didn't want to, she'd have to go back eventually. She was still crying, and leaned her forehead against a tree, bringing her hands up to her face so she could sob into them. Why did Sly love Carmelita? _Why_? She didn't understand it. She didn't understand his infatuation with her. And not understanding it made her hate it. She punched the tree, wanting it to feel the same pain she was feeling… like her heart had been ripped from her chest. She just wanted to die. It's not like Sly would care if she did, anyway…

She cried for a long time against that tree. She didn't know how long. Half an hour, maybe? But it felt like so much longer. She wiped her eyes with her hand, and then looked up at the sky. The stars twinkled distantly, but she had to look away from them, because two particularly bright ones reminded her of Sly's eyes. The way the twinkled in amusement, or when he laughed. She hated how she couldn't get him out of her head.

Suddenly, she heard a clicking sound behind her, and she turned her head around quickly, surprised to see Christopher there. And, to her horror, he was holding a gun, aiming it directly at her. She could see the crazed look in his eyes. He was furious. His clothes were torn a bit. He must've had one heck of a time trying to get away from the cops.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to play with a person's emotions?" Christopher muttered darkly. Merah knew she was in trouble then. Christopher pulled the trigger, and she heard the sound of the gun go off. She threw herself to the ground, dodging the bullet, but she felt it clip her in the side. She put a hand on her waist, and then quickly scrambled to her feet as Christopher took aim at her again. He _was _crazy! He was trying to kill her!

Merah never thought she'd be so happy to see the cops at that moment. A male fox, who looked very much like Christopher, tackled him to the ground. After he handcuffed him, the guy stood up. Merah could see he wore a brown trench-coat

"Good to see you again, Chris," the guy said, smiling. Merah heard the American accent from him.

"Nicholas," Christopher said bitterly. "You've always wanted to throw me in jail, didn't you?"

"Only whenever you've done something bad, little bro," Nicholas said, but that was all Merah heard. She needed to get back to the van. That bullet had hurt her a lot more than she thought…

* * *

Sly was still out on the roof of the van, just staring up at the sky miserably. Bentley used the boost on his chair to get up there, too, and he wheeled over next to Sly. They didn't look at each other.

"You two had a fight… didn't you?" Bentley asked quietly after a while. Sly sighed.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear it," He said just as quietly. "We were yelling pretty loud."

"What happened?" Bentley asked.

"I got mad at her for kissing Christopher," Sly said.

"Wait—she kissed _Christopher_!" Bentley shouted.

"Yeah… so he wouldn't see me when I went to get the book," Sly said. "But… but I didn't go get it. I don't know, Bentley… when I saw her grab him like that, and just… kiss him… It hurt to watch. I wanted to die, disappear right through the floor."

Bentley nodded. "You like her, don't you?"

"I love her," Sly said. "But I screwed it up. She's right; I am a sleazy player. I kept flirting with her. And then I'd start to talk about Carmelita, like she was the greatest thing…"

"She doesn't seem so attractive anymore, then?" Bentley said.

"Oh, no, Carmelita is beautiful," Sly said. "It's just… Merah had been there to help me this whole time. And Carmelita's been trying to throw me in jail for years. We're on opposite sides of the law. I thought about it, and… I came to the conclusion that it just wouldn't work."

"But you're going to try to make things right with Merah again, right?"

Sly shook his head. "No… I wouldn't be surprised if she's already quit the team… I screwed up. And now I'm paying for it."

Bentley patted Sly on the shoulder. "You'll make up with her. I know you will."

"Thanks for the confidence, Bentley," Sly said. "Listen, I think I'd just like to be alone right now. Get my mind around it all."

"Okay," Bentley said.

"Thanks, pal," Sly said. "I'll come back in soon."

Bentley left him alone, and Sly was left staring out into the night. Then he heard something, and he tried to peer through the darkness to see what it was. Then he recognized the dress…

"Merah?" Sly said, hope gathering in his chest. His hope was quickly taken over by fear when she suddenly collapsed to her knees. "Merah!"

He rushed over to her, and he heard her panting heavily. She was shaking badly, and Sly could tell it was hard for her to breath.

"Merah, what's wrong?" Sly asked, taking her shoulders. She slowly took her hand away from her side, and Sly gasped when he saw the blood. Her hand was soaked in it.

"Christopher…" She muttered weakly. "Ambushed me when I was alone…" She took a deep breath. "He aimed his gun at me, and I tried to dodge it, but it clipped me… I didn't think the injury was that bad, but…"

"Shh," Sly shushed her, and helped her get to her feet. She fell against him, and he immediately scooped her up into his arms. "You'll be okay. Try not to talk."

He went to the van, and kicked the back doors. Penelope opened them again, and she gasped when she saw the blood on Sly's shirt, and Merah looking like she was about to pass out at any second.

"What happened!" She asked in alarm, opening the other door for him.

"She got shot," He said, gently setting Merah down on the floor. "She needs help."

"Oh, no…" Penelope said. She went to Merah's head, and gently touched her forehead. "Merah… Merah, is the bullet still there?"

"I…" Merah coughed. "I don't… know…"

"I'll have to see," Penelope said. "It'll be worse if it's infected."

She went and got some plastic gloves from the first-aid kit that was in the van, and she also came back with what looked like a big pair of tweezers. She helped Merah roll onto her good side, so she, Penelope, could see the injury well.

"Okay…" Penelope said softly to Merah. "I'm going to see if it's still there… this will hurt, so be prepared."

She gently prodded the injury that was just above Merah's hip, and as soon as she did, Merah let out a pained cry. Sly grabbed her hand, and gently stroked her hair. He leaned down, whispering words of comfort in her ear. He could feel her shaking. She was scared. Sly was, too. She had lost a lot of blood, he could tell, and he didn't want to lose her… not to death.

The Guru came over then, and said something to Sly before gently touching Merah's forehead, and chanting a spell. Merah's eyes slowly drooped closed, and her breathing slowed greatly. The Guru had put her to sleep. Penelope set to work again, and five long minutes later, she pulled out something small and silver.

"She was lucky it didn't hit any vital organs, or anything," Penelope said. "She'll be fine. She just needs rest. And bandages. I'll have to ask all guys to leave while I patch her up."

Sly didn't want to leave Merah, but he did anyway after Penelope promised him he could spend all the time he wanted with her after she was done bandaging her injury. Sly paced anxiously outside, and then he leaped into the van before Penelope had a chance to open the door all the way. He went strait to Merah's side, and was thankful to see that Penelope had put a blanket over her, and gave her a pillow.

"She'll be okay, Sly," Penelope said, patting him on the shoulder. "She just needs sleep."

"Thanks, Penelope," Sly said. "For taking care of her."

"I wouldn't have done anything else," She said, and went over with Bentley again as Murray started up the van, and drove it to a safer spot. The cops would probably be coming by to look for them, so it was necessary to move.

Twenty minutes later, when they were out of Christopher's area, Murray parked the van in a secluded spot. Everyone was tired, and they all needed sleep. Especially Sly. But he was too wired even though he was exhausted. He wanted to stay awake in case Merah woke up and needed something. Everyone else got out blankets and pillows, and they all lay down in the back of the van for sleep. Penelope tossed sly a blanket and pillow, too, but he didn't use them. He just leaned against the wall of the van, looking down at sleeping Merah, stroking her hair.

A long, long while later, just as Sly was about to fall asleep, Merah started to stir, and he was immediately snapped awake. She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, and then winced, and grabbed her injured side. Sly gently and carefully set a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," She said softly. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, and muttered groggily, "Water."

Sly went and got some for her, and he helped her hold the glass to her lips. She finished the whole thing in one gulp, and Sly took the cup away as she rubbed her eyes.

"Where am I?" Merah muttered, looking around.

"The van," He whispered. "Everyone's asleep."

"Asleep?" Merah repeated. "What happened?"

"Guru put you to sleep," Sly explained. "And you just woke up now. Penelope removed the bullet and bandaged you up. She says you'll be fine, you just need rest."

Merah nodded, but didn't say anything. She was staring at the floor, forcing herself to not look at Sly. He noticed this, and gently lifted her chin to make her look at him. He saw her eyes were brimming with tears.

"I'm so sorry for whatever I've said or done to upset you all this time," Sly said softly. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Too late for that," Merah muttered.

"Okay, I deserved that," Sly said. "But… Merah, I'm so sorry. I am so sorry; you don't even know how bad I feel… especially since it's kind of my fault you got hurt… I made you run off. If we hadn't gotten into that fight, you'd be okay."

"What are you trying to say, Sly? I'm tired," Merah said. Sly lifted her chin again, because she was looking down again, and he used his other hand to gently comb his fingers through her hair.

"I'm trying to say that I want to make it up to you," He said. "And… and that I love you. I really do. No joke."

"You… you do?" Merah asked, her eyes wide. Sly smiled at her as an answer. She took a deep breath, and then smiled back at him, putting a hand over the one he had rested on her cheek. Sly leaned in closer then, and gently kissed her. But it wasn't like the kiss he had given her while they were eaves dropping, or when he kissed her to 'see something'. This was a loving kiss. And Merah could tell he wanted it feel that way. He wanted it to be full of love.

They kissed for a while longer, and then just cuddled together, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

The next morning, when Penelope, Bentley, Murray, and Guru woke up, the first thing they all did was make sure Merah was alright. And Penelope actually laughed when she saw her laying there with her head on Sly's shoulder. They were both still sleeping soundly, and they all felt it could be cruel to wake them at such a peaceful time.

"We were right," Bentley said to Penelope. "They did end up together."

* * *

**A/N:** Sweet chappie, no? I especially loved typing this one out! It was so much fun!

R&R! See you next update!


	6. Ch 6: Unconditional

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Six: Unconditional_**

* * *

_**Last Time:**_

"If I'm such a sleazy player then, why do you keep freaking out whenever I so much as mention Carmelita?" Sly demanded.

"Because I love you!" Merah yelled.

---

Bentley patted Sly on the shoulder. "You'll make up with her. I know you will."

"Thanks for the confidence, Bentley," Sly said.

Bentley left him alone, and Sly was left staring out into the night. Then he heard something, and he tried to peer through the darkness to see what it was. Then he recognized the dress…

"Merah?" Sly said, hope gathering in his chest. His hope was quickly taken over by fear when she suddenly collapsed to her knees. "Merah!"

---

"I'm so sorry for whatever I've said or done to upset you all this time," Sly said softly. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Too late for that," Merah muttered.

"I'm trying to say that I want to make it up to you," He said. "And… and that I love you. I really do. No joke."

---

"We were right," Bentley said to Penelope. "They did end up together."

* * *

The van had started up again, and Bentley and Penelope were trying to look up information on the next member of the Organization. Guru was sitting with Murray, in the front seat, talking about things that Murray had studied while in his 'peaceful' state. Sly and Merah were still asleep in the back. Everything was quiet until the back tire of the van hit a huge pot-hole, and Merah gave a yelp of pain, for it must've hurt her injury. She gasped on the floor, holding it, and Sly woke with a start. He instantly snapped into concern mode, and tried to roll Merah over onto her back so he could see what was wrong. Everyone else was concerned, too, and they all watched until Merah spoke.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Merah said. "Just… let me breathe."

She took a deep breath, and after her wound had stopped throbbing, she gingerly lay herself down on the van floor again.

"You're sure you're alright?" Sly asked. She nodded.

"Just tired, still," Merah replied.

"Do you want anything?" Sly asked, stroking her hair. "Water, something to eat?"

"Water sounds good," Merah said, snuggling back up under the covers. Sly smiled at her and kissed her forehead before getting up. That's when Merah noticed the red spot on his shirt, and she grabbed his hand before he could walk away.

"What's on your shirt?" She asked, sounding a little scared. "It doesn't look like punch."

"Hm?" Sly looked at his sleep-wrinkled white tuxedo shirt, and then he laughed a bit. "No, actually, that would be your blood. You fell on me after you managed to get back to the van."

"I… don't remember any of that." Merah confessed.

"You were only semi-conscious by that time, so I wouldn't expect you to," He replied, going to get water for her again. Then she realized she was still wearing her dress from the night before.

"We can pull over so you can change," Penelope said. "And maybe I should change the bandages, too."

Merah nodded in agreement, and after Murray pulled over, Penelope forced all the guys to get out again. Around twenty minutes later (the guys didn't realize why it took so long for one girl to get changed and re-bandaged), the door was opened again. Merah was back in her thieving outfit, and she was sitting up with her back against the wall, her eyes half closed. She was still really tired. Sly immediately went over to her, and sat next to her, taking her hand. She looked over at him, and smiled lightly.

"Do you want to sleep more?" He asked.

"Yes, please," Merah answered softly, and Sly put an arm around her shoulders, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. She was asleep again almost instantly.

"Do you think we should wait for her to recuperate before we go track down the next Organization member?" Bentley asked Sly. He nodded.

"She'd insist on helping out, and the strain on her wouldn't do her any good." Sly said.

* * *

A few weeks later, Merah was almost back to her original self. They were back in Paris, at the hideout, for they all felt she needed a secure place to rest and get better. She was just as demanding and hot-tempered as ever, but her energy was still restricted, and whenever she did something, even simple, it wore her down completely. But she was sleeping less and less during the day, and Sly was happy about that. It gave him more time to spend with her.

When Merah was pretty much completely healed, Bentley presented them with a bit of good news, and bad news. The bad news was Mister Bun-Bun, the next member they were supposed to steal the book from, had already handed the book over to the fifth and final member of the group, The Master. He had gotten himself arrested soon after. But the good news was that The Master resided there, in Paris, coincidentally, at Shadow's manor. They found out later the manor really belonged to The Master, and Shadow had just been borrowing it. So, they would know exactly where to find him.

It was tough to find out _about _him, though. He was a complete mystery, and Bentley spent hours a day trying to find out at least something about him. He actually spent nights, too, but he had to do that in secret, because Penelope would kill him if she found out he was pulling another all-nighter.

* * *

"Hey, Bentley," Sly said one morning, sitting down in the chair next to Bentley. Penelope had occupied it a short moment ago, but she got up to go get something. "How's it going?"

"I wish it was going better," Bentley said bitterly, pressing two last keys before rubbing his sore eyes tiredly. He looked at Sly with a bit of disdain. "Whoever this Master guy is, he certainly knows how to keep himself hidden. I've found out he was born in Dijon, though."

"Well, that's a start," Sly said. "Anyway, I just thought I'd tell you that Merah and I are going to go out for the afternoon. She needs to get out of the house."

"Agreed," Bentley said. "Speaking of Merah, where is she?"

"Still asleep," Sly answered.

"At seven thirty in the morning?" Bentley asked, shocked. Sly laughed.

"Not everyone is an early bird like you, pal," He said, getting to his feet. "Anyway, we're going to be gone most of the afternoon. I'll take the Binoc-u-com with me in case I need to contact you, alright?"

"Fair enough," Bentley answered. Sly gave him a clap on the shoulder as he set off to work again.

Heading into the car where the beds were kept, Sly went over to Merah, who was still wrapped up snugly in the covers. She had the blanket up over her nose. Sly laughed when he saw this. He noticed she slept like that often. Lying down on the bed next to her, Sly put an arm around her waist, and kissed her cheek. She started to move then, and she turned in his arms to lie on her back. She didn't even open her eyes when her hand found its way from beneath the covers, and she gave him a little whack upside the head.

"Ow," Sly said playfully, though it didn't hurt at all. "What was that for?"

"I'm sleeping," Merah muttered groggily, her voice muffled by the blanket over her mouth. Sly pulled the blanket away, and gave her a kiss. He heard her laugh softly.

"Come on, get up," Sly ordered. Merah groaned.

"Do I have to?" She asked. She rubbed her eyes like a small child, and then looked at him.

"We're going out for the day," Sly said. "I want to take you somewhere special."

"Oh, a surprise?" Merah asked. Sly leaned down to kiss her again.

"You could say that," He replied with a charming smile. Merah smiled back, and then pushed him away.

"Let me get dressed then," She said, sitting up. Sly left her alone to dress, and waited for her out by the front door. Twenty minutes later, Merah came out to meet him. She was wearing her plain old jeans, two t-shirts, a long-sleeved white one over a regular blue one and she left her beautiful hair down. She went over to Sly and took his hand, and they both called hurried good-byes to the others before Merah dragged Sly outside.

Sly had recently bought a motorcycle after finding the vault, and after handing Merah a helmet, and putting one on himself, they both climbed on, Merah sitting behind him with her arms around his waist. Then he drove off into town.

"So where are we going?" Merah asked, raising her voice over the sound of the bike.

"You'll see," Sly answered, and he sharply turned a corner of a street. He slowed down as they drew nearer to a fancy little café, and he parked the bike, taking the keys out of the ignition.

"What are we doing?" Merah asked as Sly helped her off the bike.

"Today," Sly said, pulling her close so close to him, their noses were almost touching. "Is a day where you will be spoiled. I'm taking you for breakfast, and then I want to buy you something, and then we're going to sightsee, and then have lunch, order an early dinner to go, and then we're going to climb to the very top of the Eiffel Tower where we will eat out take-out dinner, and star-gaze." He touched his nose to hers then. "Just the two of us."

"Now I feel selfish," Merah said jokingly. "Haven't I been spoiled enough, everyone waiting on me hand and foot when I was hurt?"

"Well," Sly started dragging her into the café. "You aren't hurt anymore. So I'm going to spoil you as much as I feel like I should."

* * *

After a wonderful breakfast at the café, Sly and Merah got onto the bike again, and he drove down a street, passing many little boutiques, clothing stores, and jewelry stores. Sly parked the bike again in an alley way, hidden so no one would steal it, and he and Merah walked along past all of the stores. There was one that caught her eye, and she stopped at the window of a jewelry store, selling wedding rings. It wasn't the fact that they were wedding rings, it was the fact that one of then she recognized.

"Let's go in here for a minute," She said, and Sly followed her into the store. Merah asked the lady working there if she could see one of the rings displayed in the window. The lady went and got the rings that were on display, and Merah picked out one that was a simple silver band with a blue topaz stone set into it. She turned it around to see the back, and she smiled when she saw the name that was engraved into the silver:

_Alana Serenity Ringo_

"Who's Alana Serenity Ringo?" Sly asked, seeing the name, too.

"My mom," Merah answered. Then she looked at the lady, and asked how much it was.

"Oh," The woman said. "This one isn't for sale. Someone has already made a deposit on it."

"Oh," Merah said. She reluctantly put it back in the tray the lady had taken out. "Thank you, anyway."

Then she pulled Sly from the store.

"I could have paid for that, you know," Sly said. "If you wanted it that badly."

"No, it's okay," Merah said. "I just wanted to see it."

Sly put an arm around her waist then, and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder for a minute before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"You don't have to buy me something," She said. "Your company is enough. Besides, you already paid for breakfast."

Sly laughed, and let her drag him down the street.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carmelita was driving down the road in her police car. She wasn't on duty – actually, she had taken the day off. There was no sign of the Cooper Gang at all anywhere, and no new members of the Organization running around that she knew of. So, basically, she was bored. She turned the radio on, and flipped through stations, but none of the music sparked her interest at the moment. So she turned it off.

She drove and parked at a café, where she got some breakfast and a coffee, and then she drove around some more. Boredom certainly was irritating. And she never hung out with any of the other cops at her office; she didn't connect well with them. And all the men kept staring at her like she was a prize, which she didn't like at all.

Carmelita thought about the past few months, chasing after the Cooper Gang. They had a new member, a female raccoon. She, Carmelita, had fought with her at Nyoka's party. She wasn't going to deny it- that girl was a good fighter. She managed to match every single one of Carmelita's moves, and more. And Cooper seemed to have taken an interest in her.

But… why could Carmelita care? It was Sly's own problem if he loved that hot-tempered little snot. Was she… jealous? No, way! Not Carmelita Montoya Fox. She didn't care about Sly Cooper at all. She just wanted him in prison.

It was then that she saw a raccoon couple walking down the street, hand in hand. She sighed when they stopped and kissed for a minute and then the guy bought a rose for his girlfriend from a passing flower vendor. Then they proceeded on their way, happy in each other's company.

Carmelita saw the streetlight turn green, signaling for her to go, and she sighed again. Though she wasn't attracted to Cooper, she did think it would be nice to have someone to lean on like that.

* * *

Evening was drawing nearer, now, and Sly went and ordered dinner for Merah and himself at a take-out place. She stayed with the bike, fiddling with the rose he had bought her. When he came back, he said to leave the bike here, and they'd walk to the Eiffel Tower, for it was a little ways away.

"We're not going to take the stairs, are we?" Merah asked.

Sly smiled. "Certainly not. It would take us forever. One thousand, six hundred and sixty-five stairs all the way to the top. The elevators are much more practical."

"Good," Merah said. "I don't want to be exhausted before the end of our wonderful day together. This is the most physical activity I've done since recovering."

"You're right," Sly said, looking at her. "It is. Feeling okay?"

"Yes, dear," Merah said, giving a small laugh. "I'm perfectly fine."

They reached the tower, and Sly paid the entrance fee. Then they took one of the elevators. After reaching the first floor, they took another elevator, and once on the second floor, Sly lead Merah silently to a set of stairs that were off limits, except for security. There was no on there right now, so after climbing a small flight of stairs, Sly opened a hatch, and pulled Merah up onto the roof of the tower. The very top.

"Whoa," Merah breathed in awe, looking across at all of Paris. "I've never seen such a view."

"I always come up here when I can," Sly said. "I love looking out over Paris."

"I can see why," Merah replied, sitting down on the roof. "It's beautiful."

Sly sat down next to her, and they just looked out over Paris for a while. Then Merah leaned her head on his shoulder, and said, "Thanks for taking me out today. It's been fun."

"I'm glad you've enjoyed yourself," Sly answered with a smile. Merah smiled back, and then kissed him softly.

"I love you," She whispered.

"I love you, too," He replied, and leaned in to kiss her again. She kissed back. They forgot all about dinner.

Eventually, as it always does, one thing lead to another. Neither of them had planned to go very far. But they had.

And to make it worse for the fact she felt so alone with no emotional ties, Carmelita had seen it all.

* * *

Sly and Merah drove home on the bike that night, both of them quiet. They still hadn't eaten, but neither of them was really very hungry. Sly parked the bike near the hideout, and Merah got off, removing her helmet. Sly took off his helmet, too, but he didn't get off the bike. Merah gently touched his shoulder. She smiled at him.

"It's okay," She said.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Sly answered, sounding a little bit disheartened. "I took something from you that I shouldn't have—"

"It's not like I told you to slow down," Merah interrupted.

"Yeah, but… still." Sly said. "If you get—"

"Let's… not even think about that, okay?" Merah said, cutting him off again. "Let's just… go inside, and pretend it never happened."

"But…" Sly looked up at her. "It did…"

"And we can't change that," Merah said. Then she hugged him, and said softly. "I had a wonderful time today. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun. And… I think of what we did as… a way for me to thank you. And for our feelings to be stronger."

Sly smiled then, and got up off the bike. He pulled Merah close to him and kissed her lovingly. "I'm so lucky."

"Because of that horse shoe you have in your pocket?" Merah asked jokingly after she had kissed him back.

"No," Sly replied. "I'm lucky because I have you."

He looked deep into her beautiful blue eyes, and said softly, "Thank you, Merah. For giving me that gift."

Merah kissed him, and then together, they walked back to the hideout.

Sly couldn't help but feel a little bit worried, though. If they had conceived a child, it would mean more danger in this whole mission. He just hoped that everything would stay the same at least until _after_ they bagged the Master, and god the Thievius Raccoonus back.

* * *

**A/N:** Hmm… well, I had to make _something _happen, right? That's why this fic is rated T.

Next Chappie is about Carmelita. I hope you enjoyed!


	7. Ch 7: Inspector Nicholas Dunford

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Seven: Inspector Nicholas Dunford_**

* * *

_**Last Time:**_

Eventually, as it always does, one thing lead to another. Neither of them had planned to go very far. But they had.

Sly couldn't help but feel a little bit worried, though. If they had conceived a child, it would mean more danger in this whole mission. He just hoped that everything would stay the same at least until _after_ they bagged the Master, and got the Thievius Raccoonus back.

* * *

Carmelita was still shaking as she walked back to her car. She had seen Sly and Merah on their way to the Eiffel Tower, and she thought she could arrest them when they were oblivious. But then… she saw the start of their 'act', and had to turn away. She ran back down the stairs from the roof of the building she was standing on, watching them, to the bottom floor. And now she was next to her car.

She couldn't believe that… that she had witnessed them going at it. And on top of the Eiffel Tower! She definitely felt scarred. And a little bit saddened by it. With no emotional ties, she started to doubt if she would ever get married, and have kids. She knew that after Sly and Merah had done the act showing unconditional love that they would definitely end up getting married and having children. And who knew? Maybe nine months from this day, there would be a child. But Carmelita was still upset about it. She thought she would drive for a long time to get her mind off of it. She pulled the latch on the car door.

It was locked.

She felt her pockets for her car keys.

They weren't there.

She looked in the driver's side window.

There were there in the ignition.

"Oh, come _on_!" Carmelita yelled, kicking her door. It dented. She gave an aggravated scream. "What the hell did I do wrong? Why does nothing good _ever _turn out for me!"

"Carmelita?" A voice said, and she turned to see a car that had just parked behind hers. The driver had just gotten out, and she recognized him instantly. Nicholas Dunford. He was wearing is brown trench coat, as always. She crossed her arms.

"What do you want, Nick?" She asked.

"Well, I saw you looking distressed, and I thought I'd come over to help," He replied. His gentle voice seemed to calm her a little bit. But she didn't let her guard down. It wasn't the first time men from the office had tried to hook up with her. She had refused every one of them. But then again, maybe that was the reason she had no emotional ties…

"Well… thanks for the offer, but I think I can deal on my own," She answered. Nick just gave a small laugh.

"You are you going to unlock your car?" He asked. Carmelita blushed.

"I'll…. Figure that out," She said defensively. "Eventually."

"Here," Nick said, and took his car-keys from his pocket, and tried to fit them all into the lock. The last one fit, but not perfectly, though he did manage to turn the lock. Now it was only the task of getting the keys free from the lock. Carmelita watched him, and had to smile when he couldn't get them free.

"Way to go," She said. Nick glanced in her direction, and tried again, this time getting them free. She laughed a bit.

"Well," Nick said. "Hopefully I didn't bust the lock. But there you go, your door's open."

"Thanks," Carmelita said honestly. "I'm just wondering how the key actually managed to fit in there."

"I have the same kind of car," Nick explained. "Certain keys fit all of the door-locks. It's just a fight to get them in and out."

"Ah, I see," Carmelita said. "Well, thanks again."

She moved to climb into the car when Nick suddenly grabbed her arm. She turned to look at him, and she caught sight of his brown eyes. They reminded her forcefully of Sly, and she turned away quickly.

"There's something wrong," Nick observed quietly. "Anything on your mind?"

"Nope," Carmelita lied too soon. Nick raised a brow.

"Nothing… at all?" He asked.

"Nothing," She answered, looking him in the eye.

"Something is definitely on your mind, Miss Fox," Nick said seriously. "You look sad."

"I'm not sad!" Carmelita yelled.

"Okay, now you look sad and angry."

"It's Sly Cooper, okay?" Carmelita shouted at him suddenly. "I just witnessed him and his new… girlfriend getting busy on the roof of the Eiffel Tower."

"Getting busy… as in…?" Nick started. Carmelita glared at him. "_OH_! Oh, okay. Wow. That, uh… that must've been weird."

"Just a bit," Carmelita snapped in a sarcastic whisper.

They were quiet for a while. Then Nick said, "You're jealous."

"I am not!" Carmelita yelled.

"Then why are you so upset about it?" Nick asked. "You said so yourself Cooper was nothing more than a criminal. Why does it bother you so much he spends his time 'getting busy' in public places?"

"It… doesn't bother me…" She answered hesitantly. Did it, though? Why _was _she making such a big deal? Oh, right. Because she was feeling lonely with herself, that's why… She sighed.

"Okay, okay," Carmelita answered. "I… I've been feeling a bit lonely for a while, and… it's starting to get to me."

"So you want someone to drag you up to the roof of the Eiffel Tower, so you can get it on with them?" Nick asked. The look Carmelita gave him was enough to make the biggest, meanest, scariest, toughest man ever shrink in fear. Nick gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, okay, um… I guess that's a no."

"I just…" Carmelita sighed. "I just don't like the loneliness, that's all."

"If it bothers you so much," Nick started. "Why don't you go out with one of the guys from Interpol? I know lots of them would be happy to go out with you."

"They're all weenies."

Nick had to laugh. "So the Princess is picky. That's why you have no emotional ties, Carmelita; you turn down every man who dares approach you."

"They only want me because they think I look good," She answered. "I want someone who likes me for me."

"Maybe there _are_ guys who like you for you," Nick said. "But you've just turned them all down on assumption that they only like you for your looks. Try going out with a few of them and see."

He _did _have a good point. Carmelita smiled at him.

"I never thought I'd be taking advice from an overly self-confident idiot like you," She said fondly, crossing her arms over her chest. Nick smiled.

"And I never expected a hot-tempered hag like yourself would even bother to listen to it in the first place," He replied just as fondly.

"Thanks, Dunford," Carmelita said, opening the door of her car. "For your help. I owe you."

She got into the seat, as she as she was about to close behind her, Nick stopped it with his hand, saying, "Uh… Carmelita… would you… come to dinner with me? You could repay me that way."

Carmelita considered it for a moment. She looked Nick over. He was incredibly handsome with a strong jaw, gentle eyes, and a dashing smile. He was strong, too. And a good cop. He had a great personality, gave good advice… What the hell.

"Where are we going to go, then, Nicholas?" She asked.

"We're, uh… you mean... tonight?" He asked.

"Well, we're both already out," She pointed out. "So… we may as well."

Nick raised a brow. Then she smiled. "Follow me; I think I know a good spot."

Carmelita got out of her car; she made sure she took her keys out of the ignition this time, locked her door, and followed Nick to his car. She got into the passenger side, and he drove off down the street.

She had smile. At least _something _went her way today.

* * *

**A/N:** Aww… She found someone! Nicholas is originally the guy Merah was supposed to end up with in my own little universe. But I figured… Hey, Merah's a thief, Sly's a thief, and they're both raccoons… let's pair them up!

Hope you liked this! Sorry it was short. R&R!


	8. Ch 8: The Master

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Eight: The Master_**

* * *

_**Last Time:**_

Carmelita got out of her car; she made sure she took her keys out of the ignition this time, locked her door, and followed Nick to his car. She got into the passenger side, and he drove off down the street.

She had smile. At least _something _went her way today.

* * *

The next morning, Merah woke up in Sly's bed, her head under the pillow. She groaned groggily, and lifted her head up from beneath it. Sly wasn't next to her. He must've gotten up already. She rolled over onto her back, and sighed, looking up at the ceiling. The memory of what they had shared the night before on the Tower made her smile slightly. She was glad to give him something so special. Then she gasped, and sat up with a start.

_What if there's a baby?_

She cursed in a whisper, and scrambled out of bed, frantically pulling on her jeans, and pulling her wrinkled t-shirt over her head. She swept her hair up into a pony-tail, and put the team jacket she had worn in Cairo on, and ran to the next car. Sly was sitting with Bentley by the computer, Murray was eating left over pizza from the night before, and Penelope was fixing her RC car.

"Penelope," Merah said, going to the door. She beckoned for her to follow.

"What's up?" Penelope asked.

"I need you to come with me," Merah answered.

"Where are you going in such a hurry this morning?" Sly asked, going over to her. Merah smiled.

"Just… for a walk." She said. Sly raised a brow. Merah bit her lip. "I'll come back soon, I promise."

"Okay…" Sly said. "Penelope, look after her?"

"We'll be back in half an hour," Penelope said, slipping on her shoes.

"Thanks, Penelope…" Merah said. Then she looked at Sly, and gave him a kiss. "I'll see you later."

"Bye," Sly said, and he held open the door for the girls as they went. He watched them go for a minute, and then closed the door.

"What's got Merah so flustered?" Bentley asked.

"I dunno," Sly asked, going over to the fridge to get a drink of water.

"Were you two up to anything last night on your 'outing'?" Bentley asked, a sly smile forming on his face. Sly choked on the water.

"Shut up," He said, coughing. "Let's just… concentrate on finding this Master guy, okay?"

* * *

"Why did you need me to come with you?" Penelope asked as she and Merah walked down the street.

"Just… for support, that's all," Merah answered. Penelope raised a brow.

"Right…" She said slowly. "So where are we going?"

Merah hesitated. "The… drugstore."

Penelope stopped walking, and stared at Merah in disbelief. All the pieces of the puzzle just fell into place. Merah looked back at her.

"What?" She asked after a while. Penelope's expression never faltered.

"You _didn't_!" She said. Merah bit her lip nervously.

"Didn't… what…?" She asked.

"You and Sly were doing something last night!" Penelope cried. But she actually seemed happy. Then she ran at Merah and dressed her ear to her stomach. "Is there a baby in there?"

"No! No, no, no!" Merah said quickly, pushing her off. "Don't say that! There can't be! I'm actually hoping there isn't."

"Why?" Penelope asked. "If you didn't want a baby, you shouldn't have done anything."

"It was…" Merah said, walking again. "Kind of an accident. He took me up to the Eiffel Tower – the very top – and we were going to have dinner, and things just kind of… happened."

"He seemed a little quiet when you two came home," Penelope said slowly. "Is that why?"

"I'm guessing," Merah answered. "He's hoping there isn't any baby, either. It's not a good time, things are too dangerous at the moment."

"That's understandable." Penelope said. "But what happens if there is?"

"I… dunno," Merah admitted in defeat. "We'll just… stick with the 'hoping there isn't' plan."

* * *

"Nothing," Bentley said after he came with the matches of his search. He and Sly were busy looking up information on the Master. Murray was out fixing the van. Sly sighed.

"How can there not be _any _information on him!" Sly said, aggravated. "I mean… that's just weird. It's like he… doesn't exist."

"No, he definitely does exist," Bentley said. "I found a little bit on info on him. I know he's killed a woman named… Alana Serenity Ringo."

"What?" Sly asked, looking at the screen closely. "That's… Merah's mother's name."

"I figured it must be one of her relatives, as they share the same last name," Bentley said. "How do you know her mother's name, anyway?"

"We stopped by a store yesterday when Merah saw a ring she recognized, and she went in to look at it. The name is engraved on the band."

"Why didn't you buy it?" Bentley asked.

"Someone already put a deposit on it," Sly said. Then an idea stuck him. "But… why would someone want to put a deposit on a ring that already had someone else's name on it?"

"Maybe they liked the look of the ring?" Bentley suggested.

"Or maybe the ring was a special item to that person," Sly said slowly. "Merah's only other remaining family member is her brother, and he's missing. So who—"

Sly stopped talking. The reality hit him hard.

"Bentley," He said slowly and carefully. "What if… the word Master is only a nick name to this guy we're trying to find out about?"

"Well, it has to be," Bentley answered. "I don't thing anyone would name their child '_Master_'. And if they did, they definitely wouldn't call him '_The Master_'."

"We call Murray '_The Murray_'," Sly said. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, and wrote '_MASTER_' in big, capital letters on the paper. He looked at it for a long, long time. Then he came to a conclusion. "What if… '_Master_'…"

"What are you trying to say, Sly?" Bentley asked.

"What if someone just had a really long full name and the initials just happened to spell Master?" Sly said.

"That… that's possible." Bentley said.

"Type it into the search," He ordered. Bentley did as he was asked, and hit enter. Only one result came up.

Bentley took a deep breath, and clicked on the link. The page loaded.

"Let's see who this Master guy is…" Sly whispered.

The page finally loaded. All of the information they could possibly ever want to know on M.A.S.T.E.R. was right there in front of them. And neither of them liked what they saw.

* * *

"Merah?" Penelope called through the door. They had stopped into a restaurant after buying a pack of tests at a drugstore, and now Merah was in the bathroom, obviously using the tests. "Merah, is everything okay?"

She had been in there for at least fifteen minutes. Penelope was starting to get worried. Then Merah lowly opened the door. She and Penelope looked at each other for a long, long time. Then Merah sighed.

"So… you're…?" Penelope said slowly. Merah closed her eyes briefly, and rubbing them with her hand.

"Yeah," She said quietly. "I am."

Another few minutes of silence.

"Man…" Merah whispered weakly. "What am I going to tell Sly? He has enough to worry about right now…"

"Sly's a good sport," Penelope said, patting Merah on the shoulder. "He'll be okay with it."

Merah made her decision then. "I'm not going to tell him."

"What?" Penelope said, surprised. "You shouldn't keep secrets from him like that, Merah."

"I'll tell him when the time is right," Merah said. "Promise me, Penelope, when we get home, you won't say anything. To _anyone_. I don't want people treating me differently, number one, and I don't what any whisper of it to get to Sly. Not yet."

"Okay," Penelope said, smiling. "I promise."

"That means you can't treat me differently, either," Merah said. Penelope nodded.

"Don't worry," She said. "You're secret's safe with me."

"Thank you," Merah said. "Thank you so much. I just… don't want everyone to worry…"

"Come on," Penelope said. "We'd better get back. We don't want Sly to worry about you."

* * *

Sly was sitting at the table silently, his elbows resting on it, and his hands clasped in front of his mouth. His eyes were closed, and to anyone who looked at him, they would think he was deep in thought. He was. But the thoughts weren't happy.

The door opened then, and Sly opened his eyes to see Merah and Penelope walk through the door. Sly didn't take his hands away from his mouth, and he stared at Merah intently. When she looked at him, the smile that had been on her face a moment ago fell, and she looked worried.

"Sly?" She said. "What's wrong?"

Sly didn't say anything, and just took his hands away from his mouth. He just continued to stare at her. Merah was getting a little scared.

"What's the matter?" She said nervously, sitting down at the table across from him.

"We need to talk," Sly said seriously. Merah's heart seemed to stop. She had never seen him so serious before. Was… was he going to break up with her?

"About…" She tried hard not to cry. "About what?"

Sly sighed, and looked down at his hands which were resting on the table. "Merah, upsetting you is the last thing I want to do… but…"

"What are you trying to say?" Merah said fearfully. Bentley came into the room then, looking stony-faced, and he wheeled his way over next to Sly. Merah was loosing it. "What the hell's going on? You guys are scaring me!"

"Bentley?" Penelope asked tentatively.

"Merah…" Bentley said. "Do you know who killed your mother?"

"N-no," Merah said. That was certainly an odd question.

"Well, we do," Bentley said. "We found out that the Master was the man behind the shooting your mother died in."

"I still don't see—" Merah started, but Bentley cut her off again.

"Does anyone in your family have a long full name?"

"We all do," She said. "I'm Merah Serenity Alana Lynn Rose Ringo."

"What about Max?" Bentley asked. Sly put his hands up to his mouth again, taking u the position he had when Merah and Penelope entered.

"He's… Maxwell Alain Severin Tave Elroy Ringo." Merah said. Then, slowly and nervously, "Why…?"

Bentley pushed a piece of paper towards her, and handed her a pencil.

"I need you to write out Max's initials." He said. "_Only _the initials."

Merah looked at Sly, and saw he still had his eyes closed. She slowly took the pencil from Bentley, and started to write out Max's initials.

_M… A…S…_

Sly opened his eyes to watch her then, but he still kept his hands at his mouth. Merah's hand started to shake as she wrote the _T _in her neat handwriting, and he heard her sob when she wrote the _E_.

After a minute or two, Merah finally let the pencil fall from her shaking hand, and she brought them up to her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. The thing she had never thought possible was staring at her right in the face. Max, her brother, the one who had helped her through her mother's death, the loss of their father, _everything_… he was the Master. His initials proved that.

_MASTER_

Maxwell Alain Severin Tave Elroy Ringo. He was the Master. And Merah's brother.

She couldn't take it anymore. Merah got up from the chair, and ran out the door, sobbing. Sly sighed, and he closed his eyes again, resting his forehead against his hands. Penelope was staring dumbfounded at the paper on the table.

"I would never have thought…" She said quietly.

"None of us thought it," Sly said bitterly. "Especially not Merah."

"Any plan we thought he had about stealing the Thievius Raccoonus back from him just blew out the window when we found this out," Bentley said. "We knew Merah would have a tough time with this."

"Just the Master thing," Sly said. "The fact that the 'Master', or Max, killed Merah's mother is even worse. He killed her father, too."

Penelope was quiet. She knew Sly was dealing with incredibly conflicting emotions right now. Would telling him about Merah's 'condition' be the right thing to do? She knew Merah didn't want her to say anything. But if Merah and the baby were to stay safe, Sly had to know.

"Maybe you should go talk to her," Penelope suggested softly to Sly. He shook his head, still resting his forehead against his hands.

"She needs some time on her own. I'll talk to her when she's ready." Then, without another word, he got up from the table, and went to the other train car to his bed. Penelope sat down at the table and looked at Bentley.

"Any thoughts?" She asked. Bentley shook his head.

"Until we know what Merah thinks, we can't make a plan of action," He said. "We'll just have to wait."

* * *

It was sun-set when Sly went outside to talk to Merah. The rest of the day had gone by slowly, and no body said a word to anyone else. When Murray found everything out from Penelope, his mood immediately went from regular, happy old Murray to quiet and depressed. Sly had never seen Murray so quiet and emotionless.

Sly heard the click of a rock hitting the ground, and he knew Merah was sitting on the roof of the train-car. He went around to the back of it, and climbed up the latter on the side to the roof. She was sitting there, rocks in her hand, and she was chucking them lazily at the ground, staring out at the horizon, watching the sunset. Sly sighed, and went to sit next to her. They stayed quiet for a long time.

"Are you okay?" Sly asked softly.

"No." Merah said flatly, never taking her eyes off the slow-sinking sun. She threw her last rock with all the force she could muster. Sly nodded, and looked at the ground.

"Understandable."

Merah suddenly slapped the roof of the train car, causing Sly to jump, and he looked at her and saw she had started to cry again.

"Why?" She asked thickly. "Why did he have to kill her?"

He knew she was talking about her mother. "I don't know, Merah."

"He helped me cope with it," Merah said, bringing her knees up to her chest. She looked like a small, lost child. She felt like one, too. "He helped me deal with the fact that I was there, that I held her when she died. I remember the people screaming, I remember… I remember when her eyes went lifeless and I knew they'd never look at me with all the love and care they always did. He took her away… and… I trusted him…"

Sly felt like he was about to cry himself. He knew exactly how Merah felt. He could still remember when his parents were killed…

"Merah," He said softly. "I'm so, so sorry. I wish I could know what to do to make you feel better."

Merah didn't say anything. Sly reached out, and gently stroked her hair. She exhaled deeply, and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and for the first time since he had gone up there with her, she looked at him. Sly stroked her cheek, and brushed away a new tear that slide down it.

"I have something important I want to tell you," She said. "I didn't want to tell you… I knew you had a lot of other things on your mind. But it's only fair that you know."

Sly just looked at her, waiting for her to tell him. She looked a deep breath.

"Penelope and I went to the drugstore today when we went out. I bought a package of pregnancy tests. We went to use a restaurant bathroom, and I did the test. The results were positive."

Sly could have fainted. He stared at her. "What?"

"I'm pregnant, Sly." Merah said flatly. He actually smiled.

"I'm so glad there was some good news today," He said. Merah looked at him in disbelief.

"Huh?"

"I was thinking about last night," Sly said. "And I thought… it would be nice to have a child. Someone to continue with the family name. Only this time, both of his parents will be great thieves."

"How can you be so sure if this is a good thing?" Merah asked. "Our child is going to grow up with a murderer for an Uncle. He killed my mother. God only knows, he could have killed my father, too."

Sly sighed, and looked down. Merah continued in a softer tone.

"No matter what, Sly, this baby isn't going to be safe." She said. "At least not until Max is dead. And… I don't have the heart to kill him. I don't. He's still family."

Sly exhaled deeply, and then held open his arms to Merah. She found her way into them, and she rested her head on his shoulder as he kissed it.

"We'll figure something out," Sly said. "Just tell us what you want to do, and… Bentley will make a plan."

"I want Max behind bars." Merah said. "In a secure prison. I don't want him to ever get free. Being locked up is a fate worse than death, in my opinion."

"We can do that," He answered.

"We're going to need Inspector Fox's help," Merah said after a while.

"Wh-what?" Sly asked, alarmed. "What did you say?"

"We'll need Carmelita's help," Merah repeated. "If Max is to be arrested, we have to persuade the cops that they should help us arrest him. They'll have to be on our level to do that."

Sly was quiet. "We'll talk to Bentley."

Merah moved a bit, and she pulled away from Sly slightly. He looked at her, and she looked at him. The she hugged him.

"Thank you for telling me about Max," She said softly into his shoulder. "Even if the news what completely horrible."

"I'm sorry it upset you so much," Sly said, hugging her. "Thanks for telling me about the baby."

"You deserved to know," Merah said. Sly pulled away from the hug, and kissed her, letting his hand rest on her stomach. His future child was there. He would protect it. And Merah.

And Max would go down.

* * *

**A/N:** DUN, DUN, DUN!

Okay, show of hands, who saw the Maxwell equals Master thing coming? Be honest!

Who thought that when Sly was acting freakishly serious that Merah could've been the Master for a second? Or helped planned it all out? Let me know. I want to see how many people were freaked out. XD

R&R!


	9. Ch 9: The Threat

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Nine: The Threat_**

* * *

_**Last Time:**_

Sly pulled away from the hug, and kissed her, letting his hand rest on her stomach. His future child was there. He would protect it. And Merah.

And Max would go down.

* * *

Merah had asked Sly that they didn't tell the others about her 'condition'. Penelope already knew, and Sly knew this now, but he agreed to keep it from Bentley and Murray. He didn't exactly think Murray would understand all that much, and Bentley would just make a big scene about it. No, really. He would.

Discovering that Max was the Master… Merah was coping with it surprisingly well. Better than Sly had anticipated. He confessed to her that Max had, indeed, killed her father, or at least aided some way in his disappearance. This didn't surprise her one bit.

He also had the ring. Silver band set with a sapphire stone, and marked with the name Alana Serenity Ringo. Her mother's ring. When Merah found this out, she went from simply _needing _to throw Max in jail, to keep herself, Sly, and the others safe, to _wanting _to throw him in jail, with a passion. When Bentley finally started concocting a plan, Merah jumped in there like a dirty shirt, making suggestions, and pin-pointing certain weak aspects. Sly had to smile when he watched her work. He had suspected she wouldn't want to do anything with this job, just because it was her brother they were going up against. But he was definitely wrong.

He just noticed Merah hadn't said anything about getting Carmelita involved.

* * *

A few days later, Bentley, Penelope, Guru and Murray all went out for the day to get some new equipment for their heist on Max's manor, so Merah and Sly were alone in the house. She was at the table, going over the plan papers Bentley had typed up. She wanted to make sure there was no flaw, not one tiny little detail that could go wrong in this plan. Her life, the lives of the new friends she had made, and the life of the man she loved were all at stake. She wanted to make sure they would all stay safe.

She suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her from behind, and she let her head fall back to rest on Sly's shoulder. He must've just gotten up, which was unusual, as Sly was normally an early riser. He kissed her cheek.

"Good morning," He said cheerfully.

"'Morning," Merah answered, never taking her eyes off the papers. Then she shook her head and put the papers down on the table. "No… I'm starting to doubt this plan, Sly. It feels like it's going to go wrong."

"Don't all plans so wrong?" Sly asked, still hugging her from behind.

"Yeah, but…" Merah sighed. "This one feels like it's going to go drastically wrong."

"So you improvise," Sly said. "Add to the plan we already have."

"Bentley will think I've lost my mind if I tell him my idea…" She said softly, biting her lip.

"What's that?" Sly asked, kissing her hair.

"We need Carmelita to help us," Merah said, though she didn't want that. She still didn't know where Sly was in the middle of this. She knew he loved her, but when you've loved someone else for a long time, you can't just suddenly let them go. She hoped her heart wouldn't get broken. She hoped Sly wouldn't leave her. Would he, now that he knew he would father a child? Sly laughed softly in her ear.

"You're worried," He said, kissing her cheek again.

"About?" Merah asked.

"You doubt me," He said simply. Merah was quiet. Sly laughed again, and went around, facing her. He took her hands and pulled her to her feet from the chair, and then drew her close to him. He nuzzled her nose.

"Don't," He said softly. "Ever doubt me. Don't doubt for one second that I don't love you. Because I love you with every ounce of my being."

"But Carmelita—" Merah started, but Sly put a finger to her lips.

"Carmelita," He whispered, taking his finger away from her lips and bringing his hand up to stroke her cheek. "Carmelita was my past. But you, Merah… you are my future."

Merah was silent for a while, and then she smiled, and said flatly, "Do you have any idea how corny that sounded?"

Sly just chuckled softly, and then pulled her closer to him so he could kiss her. Merah's arms found their way around his waist, and once the kiss was over, she let her head fall into place on his shoulder. It fit there perfectly, like a puzzle piece. She smiled to herself, enjoying the feel of Sly's arms wrapped her around her. She lifted her head so she could kiss him again, but just as their lips were about to touch, the phone rang. Merah groaned.

"Stupid phone," She muttered, reluctantly pulling away from Sly to go answer it. He just smiled as she went away, and then went to g get himself some breakfast. Merah picked the phone up off the receiver.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hello, Merah," The voice on the other line said pleasantly. Though the voice sounded pleasant, the owner of the voice was certainly _not_ pleasant.

"M-Max…?" Merah asked fearfully into the phone. Sly was immediately at her side when he heard her say her brother's name. He rested his hand comfortingly on her shoulder, letting her know he was there.

"Oh, good, you still remember me," Max said, sounding happy and chipper. "I thought you'd forgotten about me, it's been so long… a few months? Why didn't you come look for me when the house went up in smoke?"

"I was trying to," Merah started. "I was going to go looking—why the hell are you calling me!"

"No need to yell, Merah," Max said with that same, kind and delightful tone ringing in his voice. "I should be the one yelling. You betrayed me."

"How the hell did I betray you?" She demanded.

"Pairing up with Sly Cooper for all these months?" Max said, as if it were obvious. "You're a Ringo, Merah. You're fraternizing with the enemy."

"He's not my enemy, Maxwell," Merah said defensively, and she brought a hand up to rest it on the hand Sly had on her shoulder. He was still there, giving her comfort. "_You _are! You killed our mother!"

"Actually, that was an accident," Max said. "I had really intended to kill you."

Merah almost passed you. He… he had tried to kill her? "Wh-what are you—"

"Daddy's perfect little girl," Max interrupted, his voice growing darker. "He didn't want you to become a thief because you looked so much like our dear mother, and he couldn't stand the thought of losing you like he lost her. But me? He was willing to risk my life. But I wasn't 'talented' enough to be a thief, he said. But you, on the other hand… you were more talented than any of us would have ever thought."

"So that's what this is all about?" Merah asked. "You're getting mad at me just because I become a better thief than you did?"

"It originally started out as that," Max said softly, his voice still dark. "I bought a gun. I climbed on top of a roof while you and Mom were out for the day. I saw you two walking. I aimed at you. But dear Mother got in the way. I was as devastated as you were. I never wanted Mom to die. She was the only one who treated my like an equal, like I had something to show for the family. Unlike Dad.

Dad knew there was something different about me from the beginning. He knew I was smart. He knew I had a potential for something, something greater than he could have ever imagined. I had a potential for death. He saw this at an early age. But he put a stop to it after Mom died. Why do you think he ceased my training after that horrible accident? He knew it was me."

Merah listened to all of this, finally piecing all of it together. It was starting to make sense. She had always thought it strange how their father had suddenly just stopped training Max. Now his reasoning was clear; he was afraid Max would abuse his abilities as a thief. And Max _was _abusing them.

"Is that what you called me for?" Merah asked. "To confess everything? I admit, some of this I didn't know. But I see through you, now. We _will_ get the Thievius Raccoonus back."

"We?" Max asked with a hint of laughter in his voice. "Who is 'We'?"

"The Cooper Gang," Merah answered with feeling. "Sly and his friends; they're a team. And I'm part of that team now. And I'm not leaving them."

"Oh," Max sounded as if he had been touched by her words, but she knew he was mocking her. "How sentimental. You're friends with them now, are you?"

"I am," She replied. "And I've become a better thief with Sly helping me, too."

"Oh, good," Max said, his voice going back to the cheerful way it had been when he first called. "So then neither of you will mind if I burn the book, then, will you?"

"Don't you dare!" Merah yelled into the phone, and Sly pulled her a bit closer to him. He could feel her shaking in fear and anger. "That book belongs to Sly, and I won't let you take anything from him!"

"What's this I hear in your voice, Sister Dear?" Max said. "Could it be… love I'm hearing? You're speaking with such passion about a person whom you used to hate. Did you fall in love with him, Merah?"

She didn't say anything. She hated how Max was talking. He was dragging Sly into this, making her let her guard down…

"Oh, you do!" Max cried in delight. "How cute."

"If you touch him—" Merah started, but Max cut her off.

"Do what I say, Merah, and he'll be fine," He interrupted. "Come to the manor at midnight tonight. If your wits are about you, and you've really become as good a thief as you say, then you can have the book. But come alone. If you don't come alone, I'll send my guards out to hunt down precious Sly, and the rest of your friends."

"If you think that I'm going to just let you—"

"Midnight tonight, Merah!" Max yelled. "Come alone. Or Sly will die."

The line went dead, and Merah slammed it back on the receiver. Sly stroked her hair. He had heard the whole conversation.

"He's insane…" She said shakily. "He's totally insane!"

"You're not going to do what he says, are you?" Sly asked. "It's too dangerous to go by yourself."

"I'm not going to let you die," Merah said. "And I'm certainly not going to let Max keep the book…"

Her thoughts went back to her original plan; Call Carmelita.

Merah picked up the phone again, and dialed a number she never thought she ever call in all her life. She called the police.

"I want to speak to Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox," She said to the secretary who answered the phone. "It's urgent."

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Carmelita felt happier than she could ever remember. Ever since her run-in with Nicholas, she had been seeing him every night for the past few days. They even had plans for a movie that evening, as well.

She was going through police files at her desk when her phone rang. She thought – or hoped – it would be Nicholas, so she picked it up without hesitation, or without checking the caller ID.

"Inspector Fox," Carmelita said in the business like way, keeping the phone at her ear with her shoulder as she used her hand to shuffle through files again.

"Carmelita," A woman's voice said on the other line. Carmelita was confused.

"Yes, who is this?"

There was silence for a few minutes.

"Merah Ringo," The woman replied after a while. "I'm the new thief who's been working with Sly Cooper. We fought each other in Cairo."

"You!" Carmelita yelled, dropping the files. "What are you calling me for?"

"I hate to admit it, but…" Merah trailed off. Then she took a deep breath. "I need your help. Sly and I need your help. There's a new criminal, and… he's dangerous."

"You mean more dangerous than you or Sly?" Carmelita asked bitterly.

"Sly and I aren't even criminals compared to this guy, Inspector," Merah said firmly. "We don't kill. This guy… he's a murderer, and if you don't help us, many innocent people are going to get hurt."

"What do you want me to do?" Carmelita asked.

"We need you to become a thief with us," Merah said, and Carmelita heard Sly yell, "_WHAT_!" in the background. She, Merah, ignored him. "We need you to help us break into his manor."

"Who is this guy?" Carmelita asked.

"He goes by the Master," Merah said. "But his true name is Maxwell Ringo."

"Wait," Carmelita said. "He's—"

"My brother." Merah interrupted. "And one of the most dangerous criminals you will ever meet, I assure you. He's already put a threat on Sly's life. If you're as good a cop as you say you are, you'll look at the bigger picture, and realize that simple thieves like Sly and I are nothing compared to a dangerous killer."

"Fine," Carmelita said. "I'll meet you. But I'm bringing someone with me."

"Bring anyone you need," Merah said. "The more back up we have to lock Max up, the better."

"Where will I meet you?"

"The outskirts of Paris," Merah said. "The two run-down train cars on the track. You'll see the van."

* * *

It had been a few hours since Merah had called Carmelita, and now she was pacing nervously around the kitchen, waiting for her and whatever back up she was bringing to show up. Bentley, Murray, Penelope and the Guru were all back now, and Sly was telling them what Merah had done. Even Sly was a little shocked Merah had dared _suggest _to Carmelita that she be a thief with them, even if it was only for one job.

"Merah, have you lost your mind!" Bentley yelled.

"We can't do this alone," Merah said flatly, still pacing.

"But… but the _police_!" Bentley said, his voice still loud.

"Look!" Merah snapped. "Max is dangerous, okay? He already threatened your lives! I'm not strong enough to take him out by myself, and if Murray tries to take him out, you'll all be in danger!"

"So… to make it more difficult, you hired _more _people to come and help?" Bentley asked.

"They're police," Merah said. "Technically, I_ am_ alone, because they're not on this team. I'll go in by myself, and Carmelita and whoever she's bringing and find another way I, and hopefully they'll arrest Max before he realizes anything."

"This idea is still sketchy to me," Bentley said. The sound of a car parking outside was heard, and Merah went to the door, pushing it open and stepping outside. Sly followed her, and saw Carmelita and another fox get out of the car. He was tall and broad-shouldered with brown eyes and a strong jaw. He was looking at Merah suspiciously.

"Ringo, Cooper," Carmelita said, stopping in front of them and crossing her arms.

"If there was another way, believe me, I wouldn't have called," Merah snapped. Then she looked at the other guy who was with Carmelita. "Who's he?"

"Inspector Nicholas Dunford," Carmelita said. Inspector Dunford looked Merah up and down, and Sly, out of impulse, put an arm around her waist.

"I know you," he said finally to Merah. "I saw you running away when I arrested Christopher."

"In England?" Merah asked. "Yeah, that was me."

"What was he doing with the gun?" Inspector Dunford asked.

"He shot me," Merah said boredly. "Look, can we just focus on the now, please?"

"So," Carmelita said, looking at Sly. "You want us to become thieves?"

"In a certain sense," Sly said. "We need you to sneak into the manor along with Merah and make it look like you found your way there on your own. Maxwell had threatened the life of the rest of the gang, and my own life if she doesn't go in on her own."

"I'm not strong enough to take on Max by myself," Merah explained. "So, if I show up without Sly, or the rest of the gang, he'll think I've come alone, and… try to do whatever he has planned. You come in, and arrest him before he gets that chance."

Carmelita thought about it for a minute, and then she looked to Nick, who shrugged.

"I don't see why we can't help," He said.

"Alright," Carmelita said to Merah and Sly. "Run us through all the details of the plan. We'll catch Maxwell."

* * *

**A/N:** Choppy, me thinks, but other wise, I hope you liked it. A Thief/Cop team up? Has it been done? I mean, aside from the actual Sly games. Tell me what you think! R&R! 


	10. Ch 10: Reunion

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Ten: Reunion_**

* * *

_**Last Time:**_

Carmelita thought about it for a minute, and then she looked to Nick, who shrugged.

"I don't see why we can't help," He said.

"Alright," Carmelita said to Merah and Sly. "Run us through all the details of the plan. We'll catch Maxwell."

* * *

"Sly…?" Merah whispered weakly into the microphone she had attached to her collar. An ear piece was in her ear, and she wanted desperately to hear Sly's comforting voice come through it. She was just outside the gates that would lead her up the walkway of Max's large manor house. She was shivering violently.

"I'm here," Sly said calmly. "You feel okay?"

"Yeah… I guess… Sort of… Not really… No. No, I don't feel good at all."

Sly chuckled softly. "Don't worry. We're all here."

"Run me through the plan one more time?" She asked.

"Carmelita, Nicholas and I are behind the building, waiting for Penelope's signal." He said. "When she sees you go through the gates, we'll make our way into the manor from the back. I'll go through the vents, and they'll force entry in their cop-like style. Okay?"

"And Bentley and Murray?" Merah asked. They had changed the plan a lot since Carmelita and Nick showed up at the house. Merah had had a nervous breakdown, and said she didn't want to go in alone, and wanted at least Sly to find his way into the manor with her. Bentley found this understandable, and concocted this plan in a matter of minutes. She still doubted if it would work…

"Once Carmelita and Nick go to find Max and you're in the house, I'll go around and take out security. Then I'll contact Bentley on the Binocucom, and he and Murray will stay in the van, ready to make a fast getaway. I'll call them in if we need them."

"Okay…" Merah breathed.

"You nervous?" Sly asked.

"Scared out of my mind," She confessed, though she managed to smile. "You do know that this is incredibly dangerous."

"I do…" He said slowly. "Especially for you. Just… try not to fall, or… get hit at all, okay? You know, 'cause of your 'condition'."

Merah smiled. He was with Carmelita and Nick right now, so he didn't want to say anything of her pregnancy.

"Sure thing, Daddy," She said.

"Good luck, Merah," Sly said. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Then the line went dead. She took a deep breath, twirled her cane in her hand a few times, and rang the doorbell that would open the large gates for her. Then she walked through. Merah looked to her right, and saw Penelope crouching in the bushes. She saw her say something into her own Binocucom, and she knew Sly, Carmelita and Nick were moving into their position.

Merah took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth. Not that anything going on right now was very truthful, but… forget it. You know what I mean.

"Showtime," Merah muttered under her breath, and she pulled the visor of her hat down lower, so her eyes were hidden in shadow. Her cane was being gripped tightly in her right hand, and she slowly brought up her left to ring the doorbell to the house. Max himself answered the door. Merah stiffened when she saw him.

"Merah," Max said pleasantly. "How wonderful to see you – and so alone."

She narrowed her eyes. He was messing with her head, trying to get her angry. It was working.

Max wore the same grey, pin-stripped suit she had seen him wear in all of the pictures they found of him when his face was hidden by shadow. His hair was combed back neatly, and if she didn't know what a monster he was, she would have admitted he looked very regal. His broad shoulders looked even broader by the shoulder-pads in his suit jacket, and he held his head high with confidence, but Merah also noted on the arrogance.

Without a word, Merah shoved passed him into the house, and looked around. She crossed her arms over her chest, her cane still in her hand.

"Nice place," She said, though she really didn't care. "You fixed it up nicely after Sly and I trashed it when Shadow was occupying it."

"So you were working with Cooper then?" Max asked, walking up to stand next to her, his hands behind his back.

"I was technically working with him when you blew up our hiding spot," Merah shot back, turning to glare at him, but the hat was so low over her eyes, she doubted he could see. "I thought then you had just gone klutzy, like you usually do, and accidentally set off one of our bombs. But –"

"But I had actually set it off to fake my disappearance so I could go back as leader to the Shadow Organization," Max finished for her. He nodded, and a smile spread across his lips. It didn't reach his grey eyes. "You're a smart one, Merah. You always were. Too bad you didn't that out earlier."

"Yeah, it kind of is too bad," Merah said. She was loosing her sense of self. Uncrossing her arms, she held her cane at the ready, and after saying quickly, "I could have finished you then!" she lunged at him, ready to smash the cane over his head, but he grabbed her, and twisted her arm behind her back easily. The cane clattered to the floor.

"You know you can't fight me," Max said calmly, twisting her arm even more. The pained whimpers Merah had been giving before turned into a pained cry. "You've never been able to win against me in any competition involving strength. I would overpower you easily."

He let her go so abruptly that she fell to the floor hard with a thud. Her arm ached. But she was close to her cane. She heard Max take a step towards her, and grabbing it quickly, she turned and kicked him in the side of the head hard, all in one fluid movement. Max seethed in pain, and Merah immediately got up and ran for it, down the hallway away from the lobby. His footsteps followed a few minutes later.

Along her path, she knocked a few big statues over with difficulty, hoping to slow him down. If anything it just slowed _her _down. Now more than ever, she needed to hear Sly's voice.

"Sly!" He said loudly into the microphone. "Sly, are you there?"

"Where are you?" Sly asked, his voice sounding worried.

"Well… I'm running away right now," Merah said. "I pissed Max off; I don't think trying to beat him with my cane and kicking him in the head did anything for this situation."

"No," Sly said sarcastically. "You think? What did you do that for?"

"I needed to get away," Merah said. Then she noticed it was suddenly getting warmer. She had an idea. "Sly, I'm heading to the boiler room in the basement. Get Carmelita, Nick, and yourself down there. Stay hidden, keep to the beams. I'm going to try and fight Max off; if things get messy, don't be afraid to jump in, okay?"

"There's no worry there," Sly said. "You're almost there now?"

"I think so…" Merah said. "Uh… okay, I dunno. I'm going to… look around frantically for a little bit, and if you get there before I do, direct me… or something…"

"You're not very good at working under pressure, are you?" Sly asked.

"Damn strait, I'm not!" Merah yelled.

"Okay, okay," He said, trying to calm her down. "Just… find your way there, and… yeah, find your way there."

"Right. Okay," She said, trying to take a deep breath.

"You're not getting away, Merah!" Max yelled from down the hall. He was far behind her; good. It gave her time to find a place to hide. A lone door at the end of a hallway caught her eye, and she sprinted, full speed, towards it. She wrenched it open, dove inside, and slammed it shut.

Her heartbeat was going a mile a minute and she panted from the run as she slowly packed away from the door, expecting Max to burst through it any second. Her fear only increased when she suddenly felt an arm grab her around the neck, and she screamed bloody murder.

"LET ME GO!" She screeched, trying to fight the person off, but what she heard next was something she thought she'd never hear again.

"Serenity…?" A voice asked softly in awe, and Merah stopped struggling. Serenity was the name her mother was known by. And the way this voice said it, this man, was incredibly familiar to her.

"Dad….?" Merah asked, just as softly.

"Merah!" The man cried in a mixture of joy and relief, and she was suddenly pulled into a tight hug then she had no problem returning. It… it was her father… He was alive!

"I thought I'd never see you again…" Her father whispered softly into her ear.

"I thought you were dead…" Merah admitted softly. Then she pulled away to look at her father through the darkness.

Arthur Zeke Ringo, known as Zeke, was the man who had trained her to become a thief. The last time she had seen him, he had been wearing his thieving outfit, ready to go out for a heist; but there had been an explosion in the building where he was trying to steal something, and all who were in the building were proclaimed dead; the off thing odd, no one managed to find remains of his body. The reasoning behind that was Zeke Ringo had never died in the first place. His warm blue eyes, which Merah had inherited, looked at her with all the love and fondness in the world. His mouth, which she couldn't really see because of his graying moustache, was turned up in a smile, and she could tell because of the way his moustache seemed to bristle slightly. Though he looked healthy, and strong, he was definitely looking old, and on the thin side. But her same old Dad was still there.

"What are you doing here?" Zeke asked his smile suddenly faltering. "It's dangerous."

"I had to come," Merah said. "Ever since that explosion in your last heist, Max and I have teamed up, and… well, I found out what he did to Mom, and…"

"Merah!" A voice said suddenly through her Binocucom. It was Sly. She held it up to her eyes, and looked over at a wall to talk to him. "Where are you? I can't get a hold you on the microphone."

"It's probably an area of the house where there's no signal," Merah said. "I'm… well, I don't really know where I am, exactly. It's pretty dark."

"Who is that?" Zeke asked suspiciously, but Merah held up a hand for him to wait a minute. Not something you usually do to your father.

"Max is still thundering around the house looking for you," Sly said.

"Probably…" Merah said. "Um… okay, Sly, listen… I, uh… I'm just… going to find the boiler room, and… we'll meet up, okay?"

"Alrighty… be careful. Max is _mad_."

"I'll try," Merah said, and then she put her Binocucom away. Zeke was looking at her suspiciously.

"Sly?" He asked. "Sly Cooper?"

Merah bit her lip. "Yeah…"

"Merah!"

"Dad, it's okay!" Merah said. "He… he's helped me… a lot. I've been acting as Sly's 'shadow' for a while now; trying to get him framed enough so he'd eventually get arrested so our family would become better known. I stole the Mona Lisa, and he caught up with me, and I told him to read the beginning of the Thievius Raccoonus, the whole… ordeal of Socrates Cooper and Lucien Ringo, and… then Max blew up the place we were staying at, and I went to see if he was okay, and Sly followed me, and when I saw Max had kinda disappeared and that the house was up in flames, Sly offered to help me find Max and let me stay at his place, but the Thievius Raccoonus, which Sly let me read, by the way, because he said it technically belonged to me, too, was stolen, and _because _Sly offered to help me out, I decided it was only right to help _him _out, so we went around… everywhere, try to steal the book back from the members of this gang called the Shadow Organization, that Max happens to be the ring-leader of, and when I found out Max was 'The Master', he called me, and threatened to kill Sly if I didn't come here by myself."

Merah took a deep breath. She had said that all in one sentence, and her father was looking at her with a fairly flat expression on his face.

"So… that sums up everything you've been through with Cooper?" Zeke asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Merah said. She decided she wouldn't tell her father just yet that she was pregnant. "Well… all of the important stuff, anyway."

"Max said he'd threaten to kill him if you didn't come alone?" Zeke asked. "But he's here."

"I… was scared." Merah admitted. "So… we called…. Um… these two cops, one of them the cop who's been after Sly for years, and… they're here, too."

"C-c-co-cops!" Zeke spluttered. "M-Merah!"

"Trust me, Dad, if there was any other way, I would've have called them." She said. Zeke sighed.

"This isn't exactly the way I wanted my daughter to be a thief, but…. If it's working, then… Fine." He said. "What's all this about the boiler room.

"Yeah…" Merah said. "We'd better go see to that."

She headed for the door, ready to exit out of it, but her father stopped her.

"It locks itself from the inside," He said. "Why do you think I'm still in here?"

Merah reached for the door anyway, and pulled it open. Zeke stared at her, then looked down at the floor and saw there was something in the way of the door to keep it from closing all the way.

"Oh." He said. "Well that works."

"Come on," Merah said, and she and her father tried to find their way through the maze-like manor to the boiler room.

Fifteen minutes later, they finally found it. Zeke opened the heavy door, and ran inside and just as Merah was about to follow, a bullet hit the wall right next to her. She turned and saw Max, and he had a gun. He looked scary, too. He was still in his suit and it still looked as nice as it did when she first came into the house, but his hair was messed up, and he had a nasty looking bruise forming on the left side of his face where Merah had kicked him.

"You can't run forever, Merah!" He called to her. "I'll kill you eventually!"

"Drop dead, Max!" Merah snapped, and she slammed the boiler room door closed behind her, scooping up a metal pole from the floor, and using it to bar the door.

"Merah!"

She turned, and saw Sly running towards her, and with a feeling to great relief and seeing him, Merah ran into his arms. He held her tightly.

"Are you alright?" He whispered softly. She nodded.

"We don't have much time," She said. "Max is going to find a way to get through that door soon. Does he know you're here?"

"No," Sly said, and Carmelita and Nick came up behind him. "Not yet."

Then Sly noticed the old raccoon standing a few feet away, a dark expression on his face, his arms crossed.

"Uh…" Sly said, keeping his eyes on the old raccoon. "Who's that?"

Merah turned to look, and she felt shock seize her. Sly didn't know about her father and her father _definitely_ didn't know they were together. Well, if he didn't before, he did now.

"Um…" Merah said, stepping away from Sly. "Sly, this is my father, Zeke. Dad, this is Sly Cooper."

"Merah, isn't you dad… dead?" Sly asked softly.

"Turns out he isn't," She said.

"You never told me you two were a couple, Merah," Zeke said, glaring at Sly. He shrank back slightly. Old Mr. Ringo here was the one who had drilled into Merah's head that all Coopers were scum. If he was alive, he would most likely still hate Coopers. Suddenly, there was a bang at the door. Max was trying to get in.

"Look, we don't have time for this," Merah said nervously, glancing at the door. She turned back to Sly. "Max doesn't know you're here. Go back up to the rafters, or whatever's up there, and keep hidden. Dad, go with them."

"What?" Zeke asked. "I'm not –"

"Dad, please," Merah pleaded. "I… I need you to help me out."

Zeke sighed, and looked at Sly, who tried to make himself look more worthy in the eyes of Merah's father. Then Zeke smiled at Merah.

"Alright," He said. She smiled and hugged him, and he hugged her back. "Just be careful."

"As careful as I can be," She said, smiling at him. "Thanks, Dad."

Zeke let Merah go, and before she would walk away, Sly grabbed her and kissed her, afraid that this would be the last time he would get the chance to do it. Normally his attitude would be positive when it came to things like this, but when it came to the danger she was about to face…

"I'm not going to leave here without you," Sly said firmly. She smiled at him.

"You won't," She said. "Remember; don't be afraid to jump in."

"With both feet," He said with a smile, and let her go. She took a deep breath, and turned to face the door that Max was still trying to break down.

"I thought we were going to arrest this guy," Carmelita said to Sly. They all made their way to a corner of the square room, and in this corner, there was a pole that they would have to climb up to get to the walkway that was above them. It was there they would be spectators on the fight that was about to take place between Merah and Maxwell.

"We are," Sly said. "I… just don't know when. Maybe after Merah bashes him up a little?"

"So much for sticking to the plan," Nicholas said, climbing up the pole after Carmelita. Sly offered for Zeke to go first, but before he climbed up, he gave Sly a hard, long look.

"What do you have going on with my daughter?" He asked suddenly.

"S-Sir?" Sly asked. He may as well be respectful, right…?

"I would have thought a Cooper like yourself would want to try to get rid of her, just like all of your ancestors who've tried to get rid of us Ringos." Zeke said.

"Not all family members are the same," Sly said, repeating what he had said to Merah when they first met. "I understand the pain your family must have gone through for centuries, living with the thought that us Coopers have wanted to out-do all of you. That's not the case with me."

"What is the case, then?"

"I would do anything for your daughter," Sly said honestly. "If she had known that you were alive, I would have helped her find you in a second. I know that what Socrates Cooper did to Lucien Ringo wasn't noble, and I'm trying to make up for that. I don't want our families to be in this feud any more than she does. I want the Cooper and Ringo clans to be at peace again. And I'm hoping it'll start with Merah and I. I love her very much."

Zeke surveyed Sly for a few more minutes, and then climbed up the pole without another word. Sly wasn't sure if he had changed Mr. Ringo's mind on him or not, but he sure hoped he did. Once Sly was up on the metal walkway that ran all the way around the room, he joined Carmelita, Nick and Zeke, and looked down at Merah, who was twirling her cane in her hand.

'_Stay safe, Merah…_' He thought.

Meanwhile, as Max was trying to break down the door, Merah's heart was pounding so hard, she wouldn't be surprised if anyone standing close to her, they would hear it. That pole keeping the door shut would hold forever, and she quickly looked to make sure her father, Sly, Carmelita and Nick were all safe and in position. Max bust open the door then, and the pole clattered to the floor. He stepped into the room, an evil, twisted smile on his face, and a look in his eyes that made him look like a maniac.

"I hope you've enjoyed your life thus far, Sister Dear," Max said, holding his gun up, aiming at Merah. "_It's gonna end soon_!"

* * *

**A/N:** Whoa! Max is a maniac!

I didn't much like the flow of this chapter. It was kind of choppy. Typing it out wasn't all that great, either. Oh, well. At least it's down.

Hope you liked this! Next chappie is gonna be… wow. BIG! R&R!


	11. Ch 11: The Battle

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Eleven: The Battle_**

* * *

_**Last Time:**_

Max bust open the door then, and the pole clattered to the floor. He stepped into the room, an evil, twisted smile on his face, and a look in his eyes that made him look like a maniac.

"I hope you've enjoyed your life thus far, Sister Dear," Max said, holding his gun up, aiming at Merah. "_It's gonna end soon_!"

* * *

Merah exhaled deeply as Max loaded the gun he was holding, but she didn't move. She was trying to calm herself, to get herself focused. Her wits needed to be about her in this battle, and with a cloudy, panicky mind, that wouldn't happen.

"Say hi to Mom for me," Max said and he pulled the trigger, but at the exact same moment with lightning fast speed, Merah dove at him, whacking him in the arm with her cane and causing him to drop his gun. It went off when it hit the hard floor, and the loud bang echoed around the room. Max cursed loudly. Then he turned to face Merah, who was standing there, her arms limp at her sides. Her face was completely expressionless.

"Nice job," Max said after a while, a smile spreading over his features. "You were always better than me in the speed department."

"It's how I'm going to beat you," Merah said softly.

"Really, now?" Max asked. He lunged at her, but she moved away easily, and ran to the middle of the huge room. Max followed her and surprisingly managed to catch her arm, and when they both realized that he had a hold of her, he twisted it behind her back fast and hard, making her yell and drop her cane. He pinned her to the ground.

Up on the walkway, Sly was getting nervous, and when Max pinned Merah to the floor, still holding her arm behind her back, he moved to jump down and help her, but Nick grabbed his shoulder.

"No," He said firmly. "She can do this."

"She said so herself she isn't strong enough to beat him," Sly countered, moving to jump down again, but Nick grabbed his shoulder once more.

"She may not be strong," He said. "But she's sneaky. Look."

Sly looked, and he saw that Merah was reaching out with her free arm to grab her cane. Max wasn't paying attention to her other arm, so when she managed to grab it, she flipped it in her hand so she held it like a dagger, and she reached up behind her to smash Max on the head. He quickly let her go, and she jumped to her feet.

Her hat had been knocked off her head, and her hair was falling out of its pony-tail, but she didn't care. She was too focused on Max to care about anything right now. And speaking of Max…

"I'm gonna kill you!" Max yelled through clenched teeth, lunging at her. This startled Merah, and she wasn't quick enough to move out of the way before Max had his fingers around her neck. She dropped her cane again and tried desperately to pull Max's hands away from her neck so she could breathe. Max put his face right close to hers.

"I'm actually kind of glad you knocked my gun away," He whispered. "Now I get the satisfaction of killing you with my bare hands!"

"Get Merah once I know Max off of her," Zeke suddenly said to Sly. He looked over at Merah's father, who hadn't spoken a word since he started asking Sly questions at the base of that pole. But he didn't need telling twice. Zeke jumped down to the ground below, and just before Sly followed him, he looked at Carmelita and Nick.

"Stay here!" He ordered, and then he jumped. Carmelita snorted.

"What, does he think we're kids?" She asked aloud. Nick shrugged.

"It's a good idea we stay put, though," He said.

"Why?" Carmelita asked Nick with a smirk. "Are you scared?"

"No, I can just see Sly's reasoning." Nick said. "Wait until after Max is busted up before we go down and start to make arrests. Then it'll look like we weren't helping them."

Carmelita looked down to the scene below, and narrowed her eyes. "Look, there are four raccoon thieves down there, and we're not allowed to make arrests. Does ringtail really think that we won't slap the cuffs on them all after this is finished?"

"Will you?" Nick asked. Carmelita looked back at him, and said slowly, "I'll wait until their injuries are healed, because they are bound to be hurt."

Meanwhile, just after Zeke jumped off the walkway, he lunged and Max, and forced him off Merah, and now they were in a fast-paced hand-to-hand combat. Sly was immediately at Merah's side. She was gasping for air and she was shaking violently. Sly helped her to sit up.

"I'm fine," Merah wheezed, bringing a hand up to massage her neck. "Or… I will be at least."

"Come on," Sly said, pulling Merah to her feet and handing her cane to her. "Let's go help out your dad."

Max had managed to knock Zeke down to the ground, but Zeke was determined, and wasn't giving up.

"Give it arrest, old man," Max snapped. "I've won."

"Remember when I taught you not to be arrogant, Maxwell?" Zeke asked. Max gave him a confused look, and Zeke took this as his chance to give him a good punch in the face. "You obviously didn't pay very much attention.

Max cupped his jaw, and licked his lips. The metallic flavor of blood settled in his mouth, and he smiled. Then, he turned around, and went for the gun Merah had knocked out of his hands earlier. Zeke made a move to run at him and stop him, but Max pointed the gun and Merah again, who stopped dead in her tracks at having the gun being pointed her way. She had been running towards her father before.

"If you move, Dad," Max yelled, his eyes never leaving Merah. "I'll shoot her. And she'll die. Just like mom. Do you want that?"

Zeke stood still, and looked at Merah, who was being held protectively in Sly's arms. The look in Sly's eyes was one of determination, love, and strength, and Zeke realized for the first time how honorable Sly was.

"Max, stop it!" Merah yelled. "Threatening us won't get you anywhere! What good will come out of it?"

"My prissy little sister will be out of my way, that'd be pretty nice," Max replied darkly. Merah snorted.

"Prissy!" She yelled. "You –"

"Toodles, Merah," Max said pleasantly, and he loaded the gun quickly, and pulled the trigger. When Max had loaded the gun, Sly stepped in Merah's way, and just before he pulled the trigger, Zeke ran, and stepped in front of Sly, getting hit with the bullet in the shoulder.

"Damn!" Max roared at his father. "You just can't stay out of the way, can you!"

Merah was too shocked to move, and Sly was shaky. Zeke had just risked his life to save his. He really hadn't been expecting that.

"Are you alright?" Sly asked Zeke. Zeke exhaled deeply.

"I'll be fine," Zeke snapped. "The moment my maniac of a son is behind bars, I'll be happy."

"Won't we all?" Sly asked, helping Zeke to his feet. "Thank you."

Zeke shot Sly a glare. "I only did it for Merah."

Sly had smile. Now he knew where Merah had inherited the stubbornness. "Yes, sir."

Max kept on trying to shoot at them, but he was out of bullets. Swearing colorfully, he threw the gun down on the ground. Merah sprang into action again.

"Get Dad to a safe spot," She whispered to Sly. "And if you can, try and find the fireplaces."

Sly did as he was told, and helped Zeke get to his feet, and then together, Father and… was it right to say son-in-law when Sly and Merah weren't even married? Oh, well, Merah's father and Sly together tried to find the switch that would open the fireplaces. There were a bunch of them fireplaces along the walls around the room. Finally Sly found the button that opened them, and he pressed it. What he thought were the fireplaces actually weren't. The fireplaces were on the floor, and different parts of the floor slid back to reveal a burning pit. Flame shot up out of them dangerously. Sly looked at the button he had just pressed, and his heart sank. The button he had pressed was one that sort of… started to make the house burn down. _What kind of maniac would have a button like that in their house!_

Merah had gone after Max again. Was this foolish? Yes, it was. But this time, he didn't have a gun. And he was weakened. Max tired quickly, but Merah still had energy to spare, mostly from her adrenaline rush. Catching up to Max, who was running to try and find a new weapon, she cracked over the head with her cane. He stumbled, and then turned to throw a punch at her, which she dodged. He punched her again, this time with the other hand, and she caught his wrist. It was then she noticed something on his finger, and her eyes widened when she saw it.

It was her mother's ring!

"Were did you get this?" Merah asked darkly.

"I bought it," Max snapped.

"You don't deserve to have anything that belongs to her!" Merah yelled. "You killed her!"

"I never wanted to kill her!" Max yelled back at her. "I was trying to kill you."

"Why?" Merah demanded. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You knew how badly I wanted to become a thief," Max said softly. "I worked night and day to try and please Dad, and when _you_ started _your_ training, all my work flew out the window."

"I never thought you were so obsessed with being a thief," Merah said. "So you're blaming me for your failures?"

"With your quick progress and fast-learning, Dad didn't have time for me anything. It all just became Merah, Merah, and Merah." Max snapped. Then he smiled evilly. "It's really too bad… you look so much like Mom. If only you didn't have such an inflated head like Dad –"

Merah punched him in the jaw then, and when he pulled his hand out of her grasp, she managed to slip the ring off his finger. While he was cupping his jaw, Merah showed him the ring.

"This," She said. "Is our mother's wedding ring. Dad had it made for her when he proposed. This ring represents a love so powerful, not even death can break it. You don't deserve to wear this ring, Max. Because all you know it hate. I don't think Mom would have wanted someone who was so filled with hate to wear this ring."

Giving Max one final, cold glare, she pocketed the ring, and turned to walk away. Carmelita and Nick could deal with him now. She looked for Sly and her father through the masses of fire that kept being spit out by the fireplaces in the floor, and when she saw them, she headed towards them. But Max ran up to her then, and he was carrying a metal pole.

She heard him coming from behind, and she dodged out of his way before he could hit her with the long metal rod. But then he hit her from the side, something she hadn't been expecting. When she dodged she had side-stepped him to miss the first blow that would have come down on her head if she hadn't moved. But then he took the pole like a baseball player, and whacked her hard in the stomach quickly after. All the air left Merah, and she crumpled to the floor, gasping for air. She was dizzy, and she didn't know if she was going to live or die, but she suspected it was the latter.

Sly and Zeke had seen Max's foul play, and they rushed to help. Sly yelled at Carmelita and Nick to come down and help, and they did so without hesitation. Zeke went for Max like before, and Sly scooped Merah up into his arms.

"Take Merah and go!" Zeke yelled at Sly, fighting Max furiously for the pole.

"This place is going to crumble from the fire!" Sly yelled back at him, noting how the flames were already spreading.

"Just go!" Zeke snapped, and he used his foot to make Max slip to make it easier to pin him. Sly didn't know what to do. So, with Merah in his arms, we started to head for the exit.

"Dad…" Merah groaned, making Sly stop in his tracks. "I can't leave him… not after I just found him…"

"He'll be fine," Sly whispered to her, setting off again. He made his way through an emergency exit in the boiler room, and found himself near where the van was parked for their getaway. Sly went over to it, and kicked at the door. Bentley opened it for them, and Sly gently set Merah in the back on the floor.

"I'll be right back," Sly said, and dashed back to the house again. Carmelita, Nick, and Zeke were inside, still. Just as Sly was about to dive back into the flaming boiler room, however, Carmelita and Nick came out together, followed closely by Max who was clutching his face.

"Here," Nick said, tossing Sly both his and Merah's canes. "You dropped these."

"Thanks," Sly said sincerely. Then he rounded on Max, who was still holding the left side of his face. "What happened to your father?"

"He ran off," Max snapped. Carmelita being Carmelita, immediately slapped the handcuffs on his right wrist, forcing his left hand behind his back so she could cuff them together. Now everyone knew why he had been covering his face. The whole left side had been burnt horribly from the fire. Sly grimaced. It was really…. Disgusting.

"Maxwell Ringo," Carmelita said after she got over the shock of seeing his once handsome face horribly destroyed. "You are under arrest for theft, murder, attempted murder, and having a gun in your possession without a license. You have the right to remain silent. And all that otherjazz."

Sly had to smile. That Carmelita. He was still very fond of her, but fondness was all it would ever go to. He loved Merah. And besides, Carmelita and Nick seemed to have a lot of chemistry with each other. Then a thought came to him, and he turned back to the house.

"Merah's father is still in there…" He muttered in shock. Then, as if on cue, Zeke actually came running out of the door to the boiler room, something large and heavy-looking under his arm. Then there was a little mini fire-explosion that burst out through the door they had all exited out of. Nicholas pulled out his cell phone then, and called the firemen, and the paramedics. With the bullet lodged in Zeke's shoulder, and Merah injured, and Max with his horrid burns, the paramedics were needed.

"Merah, get back here!" Sly heard Penelope yell from the van, and he turned to see Merah slowly making her way weakly towards him. He ran towards her, and caught her just before her knees buckled and her legs refused to hold her up anymore. She looked really dazed.

"Merah?" Sly inquired softly. The sound of sirens suddenly filled the air, and he knew firemen, policemen, and paramedics were already on their way, maybe even there. Merah smiled at him when he said her name, and she gently reached up to touch his cheek.

"Are you alright?" Sly asked.

"I will be," Merah replied groggily. "My ribs hurt like hell, but I think I'm going to be okay."

The small smile that was on her lips before suddenly fell flat on the floor, and her blue eyes grew huge. A hand went instinctively to her stomach, and she uttered two simple words that made Sly understand completely her sudden horror.

"The baby…"

She had been hit in the stomach. Hard. With a metal pole. Not only could that have caused some serious damage to her inner organs, the baby could have been most-likely killed by that. He could see Merah was on the verge of tears, and he hugged her tenderly.

"It'll be okay," He crooned. But he really felt dread settle over him. Ever since Merah had told him she was pregnant, he had started to look forward towards the aspect of having a child. He saw Penelope, Bentley and Murray making their way towards them, and Penelope gave Sly sympathetic look. She knew what was going on.

"Sly, I think the paramedics should take a look at her," Bentley suggested.

"Yeah, she looks pretty beat up," Murray added.

"Yeah, good idea," Sly said, and he pulled away from Merah how had just rested there limply in his arms. "Come on, Merah, let's get you checked out…"

As Sly helped Merah to one of the ambulances that had shown up, and as he let one of the paramedics take her, he caught sight of her father having the bullet from his shoulder removed. Zeke looked at Sly, and gave him a cold look. Sly sighed. If Zeke hated him so much now just for being a Cooper, he'd hate him even more once he found out he had an unborn grandchild that would most likely _stay _unborn.

"Cooper?"

Sly turned, and saw Carmelita walking towards him. He stiffened. Was she going to arrest him?

"I don't have handcuffs on me right now," Carmelita said with an air of annoyance. "Max is occupying them at the moment. So you're off the hook for now. Besides, it doesn't feel right for me to arrest you when your girlfriend is injured, and you're obviously not at the top of your game."

"No, I'm definitely not at the top of my game…" Sly murmured. He sighed. "This has been so… crazy. I never thought Max would go to such lengths just to prove he _had _something to prove."

"How is Merah doing?" Carmelita asked.

"I… don't know," Sly finished lamely. "The paramedics just took her."

"I see," Carmelita replied softly. "I think she'll be okay after a while. She's strong."

Sly turned to look at the cop whom he had once felt something so strongly for. She was still beautiful, her confidence radiating off of her. She had many of the same qualities as Merah did. They were both hotheaded, stubborn, independent and strong, didn't always think things through.

"Carmelita, listen," Sly said after a while. "About… everything. I'm sorry. I'm ticked you off a lot these past few years."

"You have," Carmelita agreed. "But I'm willing to forgive that if you'll stop flirting with me."

Sly smiled. "And stop I shall. Besides, if I do any more flirting with _anyone_, Merah will have my neck. She's a lot like you in many ways."

"I can see that," Carmelita smiled.

"So… what's the deal with Max?" Sly asked.

"He'll get treatment for that nasty burn on his face," She said airily. "He'll stay at the hospital for a while, with policemen around to make sure he doesn't try to kill any of the nurses or sneak away. Then after than, he'll be going of to a tight-security prison and that should be the last we see of him. That prison is so tight, I doubt even you, Cooper, could bust him out."

"It's not like I would exactly _want_ to bust him out, anyway." Sly said. "Thanks for your help. And Nick, too, tell him that for me. He saved our canes. And our necks."

"I'll tell him," Carmelita said, and she started to walk away to rejoin Nick, who was waiting by his car for her. Then she stopped and called back to him, "Hey, Cooper! Stay out of trouble."

"I always do, Miss Fox," Sly replied with a little salute. Penelope hurried over to him, then, from one of the paramedic trucks. He supposed she had been checking in on Merah.

"Well…" She said a little breathlessly. "This has been crazy, huh?"

"Beyond insane," Sly answered. "What's the scoop?"

"Merah's going to have to go to the hospital," Penelope replied. "I've already told Bentley and Murray, so we're all going to ride in the van. You can ride in the truck with Merah if you want. Zeke's going in one of the trucks, too, because of the injury in his shoulder."

"He's doing alright?"

Penelope nodded. Sly nodded, too.

"Good. By the way, did you ever happen to see him carrying something under his arm when he ran out of the building?"

"You'll have to ask him," Penelope replied, but there was a twinkle in her eye. "They're going back to the hospital now. If you want to ride with Merah, hurry up!"

* * *

At the hospital, much to his displeasure, Sly was forced to wait out in the lobby before he was allowed to go in and see Merah. Zeke needed physiotherapy on his shoulder from his injury, so he was in a room, too. It was late, and Penelope was trying not to fall asleep, but her head kept finding its way to Bentley's shoulder, and eventually, she was out like a light.

Murray was going on about how he would have loved to bash Max's face in, and Sly started to wonder why they didn't call Murray in the first place. Maybe Merah and Zeke both would have been saved trips to the hospital. But eventually, with help from the Guru, Murray fell asleep, too. So it was just Sly and Bentley left to talk.

Sly told Bentley everything that happened. Everything in Max's manor and even before. When he accidentally let it slip that he and Merah had gone a little farther than intended on the Eiffel Tower, Bentley nearly passed out. At first, all he did was rant on about not being careful, and then he started asking all these questions, like about use of protection, and whatnot. Eventually, Bentley asked flat out if Merah had been pregnant all this time, and when Sly answered, "Yes…" in a small voice, Bentley just gaped at him for what seemed like forever. Then he turned as red as an apple.

"I'm disturbed at you, Sly." Bentley said simply. "Very… disturbed."

Sly chuckled softly. "It'll happen to you one day, Bentley."

Bentley didn't want to talk about that certain topic, so after telling Sly boldly to drop it, he fell silent. That was the doctor's cue to walk in, and announce that Sly could go in a see Merah. He didn't hesitate; he was up on his feet and down that hallway faster than anyone would have thought.

Once at Merah's room, he knocked on the door, and a nurse answered it. She smiled when she saw him, and beckoned him in, and Sly slipped his way inside. Merah was laying in one of those hospital beds, but it was propped up, and she was wide awake. When she saw Sly, she tried to quickly scramble out of bed, but she winced with every move, and eventually, Sly got to her before she even had a chance to let her feet touch the floor.

"I'll leave you two alone," The nurse said, and Merah thanked her and waited until she was gone to embrace Sly tightly.

"I'm so glad to see you," She said, pulling away from him.

"I was so worried," Sly admitted. "What's the diagnosis?"

"Broken ribs," Merah said, sounding a little bit annoyed. "Well… cracked. Max got me in the stomach, mostly, so I have one nasty bruise. I'll have to stay here for a little bit."

The question Sly had to ask he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to. He took Merah's hands in his, and asked softly, "And… the baby?"

Merah looked down at the floor, and then looked back up at him, the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. "There was no baby."

"Wha-what?" Sly asked. "But… you… the test, and… you said –"

"I read it wrong." Merah replied simply. "I was panicking so much about the whole thought of what you would think and what we would do if I _was_ pregnant that my mind wasn't clear, so I read the results in the reverse order. There was no baby."

Sly looked sad for a minute, and then he smiled, and gave Merah a kiss. "Too bad… I was kind of looking forward to the thought of kids."

"You were?" Merah asked, surprised. Sly nodded.

"Being called 'Daddy' would have been a nice change." He said. Merah smiled.

"We'll see…" She said slowly. Then she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot…"

He reached from under her pillow, and pulled a huge book out from beneath it. It wasn't just any old book, though; it was the Thievius Raccoonus. Sly gaped at it.

"How…?"

"After Dad knocked Max down into one of the fire pits, he went to look for it, and found it easily. He remembered I mentioned trying to help you get it back, so… he went and got it." Merah handed the heavy book to him. Then she added with a smile, "Surprise."

"Okay," Sly said, grinning at her. "I owe your dad so much now. This is… man!"

Merah laughed, and then she winced again, putting a hand to her ribs. "He says he wants to talk with you after you're done seeing me."

"He… he does?" Sly asked. "Am… I in trouble, or anything? Does he know about the Eiffel Tower incident?"

Merah shook her head. "No. I decided to keep that from him. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. And you're not in trouble. He just wants to talk."

"Okay," Sly said. Then he kissed her on the cheek. "I should let you get some sleep, then. We'll be up to visit tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Alright," Merah said as she climbed back into bed. Once she was settled, Sly leaned in to kiss her again, and after they had said their final goodnight for the evening, he left her alone to sleep. He informed a passing nurse that she was asleep, and asked were Zeke's room was. Turned out, he was right next door, and Sly made his way into his room to talk to him.

* * *

**A/N:** I'll tell you now, I _SUCK_ at fight scenes. So if the fight scene wasn't up to what you expected, I'm still working on trying to get them better.

Anyway, hoped you like this chappie. Next one will be a cute and romantic one, alrighty? And you'll find out how Sly's conversation with Zeke went.

R&R!


	12. Ch 12: The End

_**Sly Cooper**_

_And_

_The Shadow Thief_

* * *

**_Chapter Eleven: The Battle and The End_**

* * *

_**Last Time:**_

She heard him coming from behind, and she dodged out of his way before he could hit her with the long metal rod. But then he hit her from the side, something she hadn't been expecting. When she dodged she had side-stepped him to miss the first blow that would have come down on her head if she hadn't moved. But then he took the pole like a baseball player, and whacked her hard in the stomach quickly after. All the air left Merah, and she crumpled to the floor, gasping for air. She was dizzy, and she didn't know if she was going to live or die, but she suspected it was the latter.

000

"Broken ribs," Merah said, sounding a little bit annoyed. "Well… cracked. Max got me in the stomach, mostly, so I have one nasty bruise. I'll have to stay here for a little bit."

The question Sly had to ask he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to. He took Merah's hands in his, and asked softly, "And… the baby?"

Merah looked down at the floor, and then looked back up at him, the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. "There was no baby."

Sly looked sad for a minute, and then he smiled, and gave Merah a kiss. "Too bad… I was kind of looking forward to the thought of kids."

"You were?" Merah asked, surprised. Sly nodded.

"Being called 'Daddy' would have been a nice change." He said. Merah smiled.

"We'll see…" She said slowly. Then she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot…"

He reached from under her pillow, and pulled a huge book out from beneath it. It wasn't just any old book, though; it was the Thievius Raccoonus. Sly gaped at it.

"How…?"

"After Dad knocked Max down into one of the fire pits, he went to look for it, and found it easily. He remembered I mentioned trying to help you get it back, so… he went and got it." Merah handed the heavy book to him. Then she added with a smile, "Surprise."

* * *

A few days later after all the events with Max took place, Merah was finally able to come home from the hospital. The wait seemed like forever to Sly, and he would be so happy once they were back home. One they were _all _back home.

As they rode in the van, driving into town, Sly's mind went back to the conversation he had had with Zeke the night everything took place. When Sly had first entered his room, Zeke glowered at him with detest, but then ordered him to sit down in a chair by the bed. His arm had been in a sling, and it still was. He was riding in the van with them to go and see Merah, but it would be a long time before he would be able to use his arm properly again.

Zeke had just stared at Sly coldly for the longest time, and Sly finally broke the uncomfortable silence by saying thank you for to Zeke for saving his life from the bullet, and retrieving the Thievius Raccoonus; even if it _was_ only for Merah.

Zeke started his 'talk' by asking a whole bunch of questions about Sly, and what sort of heists he had done in the past. Sly answered each one without hesitation, but he couldn't help feel as if he was being interrogated. Eventually, Sly just started retelling stories, some of the same stories he had told Merah when they first met, about all the heists he, Bentley and Murray pulled together, and how they had recruited Penelope, The Guru, Dimitri and the Panda King to help him unlock the Cooper Vault.

Then Sly started recapping the events that had unfolded while Merah was on the team. He left out the bits where he had Merah had gotten really romantic, even if it was only for jobs; like making out to eavesdrop on Nyoka and Christopher.

Soon, Zeke and Sly were laughing together about heists that Zeke had pulled, and they started talking about other things, like hobbies, books, art, and the sort. It was then that Zeke asked the question Sly had been contemplating for some time now, ever since he and Merah had accidentally gone a little too far.

"_Are you thinking of proposing to her?"_

This simple question had played and replayed over and over in Sly's head every day while Merah was in the hospital, and eventually he made his decision. And that was all that had really happened up until then, when they were riding in the van.

"Hey, Murray, stop here for a second, okay?" Sly asked as he noticed a store he was supposed to pick something up from. "I need to get something here…"

Sly ran in quickly, grabbed what he needed to get, and then came back to the van, looking a little bit nervous. Zeke clapped him on the shoulder when he came back in, a proud smile on his face. Since their talk in the hospital, Zeke and Sly had gotten along like father and son.

"Don't worry, m'boy," Zeke said. "She wouldn't dream of saying no."

"I just hope she'll like the ring, that's all…" Sly confessed, holding out the box with the ring he was planning to give to Merah inside. Yep. He was going to propose. Zeke took the box, and opened it. He gazed at it in shock for a moment, and then shot Sly a fond smile.

"I think she'll like it very much," He said.

* * *

At the hospital, the others told Sly they would wait out in the lobby. They all wanted to give him some privacy when he popped the question to Merah. He told them he wouldn't be long, and found his way alone to her room.

When he entered, she was sitting on her newly made hospital bed, chatting with the nurse. She was giving Merah's ribs a last-minute inspection before she left, and telling her what she needed to do for the bones to heal properly. Sly waited until the nurse was done with her prepping before he cleared his throat, and Merah looked up when she heard him. A huge smile spread across her face, and she jumped off her bed, literally leaping at him. He caught her, and hugged her tightly as he dared, not wanting to hurt her again. Then he let her go, and smiled.

"I am so ready to get out of here," Merah said to him, taking his hands.

"Remember, Merah," The nurse said sternly, starting to leave the room. "_Rest_. You'll hurt yourself if you don't."

"I will," Merah promised the nurse. "Bye, Vicky."

Vicky the nurse left with a wave, and Sly and Merah were alone. He exhaled deeply, trying to clam his fast-beating heart for what he was about to do.

"I have a question I want to ask you," He said. Merah just looked at him curiously, but waited patiently for him to ask. Sly reached into his pocket, and pulled out the little box holding the ring. Getting down on one knee, he held the box out to her, and opened it. Merah looked at the ring and then at him with an expression of total surprise.

"Merah," Sly said slowly. "Will you marry me?"

She brought a hand up to her mouth, just looking at him for the longest time. And then he heard her start to laugh, but he knew she wasn't laughing to make fun of him; she was laughing because she was happy.

She didn't say anything. She just nodded, and jumping to his feet, Sly grabbed her into a kiss, which she had no trouble returning. When she pulled away to look at the ring, though, she looked at him in surprise, and then took it out of the box.

It was silver, with a round-cut sapphire set into it. And, on the band, was her name. Although instead of reading Merah Serenity Alana Lynn Rose Ringo, which was her full name, it read Merah Serenity Alana Lynn Rose _Cooper_. The ring looked exactly like her mother's ring.

"Sly…" She said breathlessly, looking up from the ring to gaze into his eyes. She was lost for words. Sly took the ring from her hand, and slipped it onto her finger.

"I remembered what it looked like when we went out that day," He said, smiling. "You seemed so fascinated by it that I had a copy made."

"It's…" Merah looked back down at the ring, and then flung her arms around Sly's neck. She hugged him tightly for a moment, and then said, "It's beautiful. Thank you. Does my father know?"

"I asked his permission first," Sly confessed. "I figured he should have had a say in it, too, and besides, I owed him for saving my life and getting the Thievius Raccoonus back."

"And he's okay with it?" Merah asked, sounding a little surprised. Sly nodded.

"Ever since I talked to him, we've been getting along great," He said. "It's kind of funny really."

Merah looked at her ring again, and smiled. "It's gorgeous. Thank you so much. You couldn't have chosen a better ring."

Sly pulled her into a kiss then, and then Merah suddenly pulled away, thought there was a small smile on her lips. "You _could_ have chosen a more romantic setting, though."

"I didn't want to wait," Sly answered with a charming smile. "Come on, the others are out in the lobby waiting for us."

When Sly and Merah came around the corner into the lobby, everyone ran at her. Penelope got there first, and she hugged Merah. When she saw the new ring on her finger, she smiled.

"I knew you two were going to end up together," She said. "Way to go, Sly."

"Congratulations to the both of you," Bentley said in a formal way, but Sly could tell he was just trying to conceal his happiness while they were still in the hospital. Merah bent down, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Bentley's response to this was a very surprised expression, and of course, he turned as red as an apple again. Penelope didn't mind, though.

Murray came, and gave Merah a gentle hug, knowing that he would hurt her if he hugged her as tight as he normally would have. She returned it, and after ruffling the Guru's hair, she turned to her father. His arm was still in a sling, but he hugged her anyway. Merah hugged him back tightly. Now that all of this was over with Max, this was the first time it had really dawned on her that Zeke's being alive was reality. She was almost in tears.

"I'm so proud of your fight, Merah." Zeke whispered, stroking her hair. He pulled away from her, and put a hand on her cheek. "I don't think I could have trained a better thief. Or raised a better daughter."

"Thanks, Dad." Merah said softly. Zeke's lip started to tremble then, and Merah quickly hugged him again. He buried his face into her shoulder.

"You're the spitting image of Serenity," Zeke said. "She would have been so proud of you, too."

"I know," Merah answered, smiling. "I know she would."

After Zeke had calmed down a little bit, Sly came forward, and put an arm around Merah. It was then that Zeke reached up and messed up his hair.

"I'll beat you if you don't take care of her properly," Zeke said sternly, but it was obvious he was joking by the friendly gesture. Sly patted down his hair, and grinned at Zeke.

"You don't have to worry, sir," He said, pulling Merah close, and she rested her head on his shoulder. "She's in good hands."

* * *

About a year later, Merah and Sly were wed. They had invited the whole gang, Dimitri and a few of his girlfriends, and even the Panda King and his daughter, Jing King. Sly felt it was only right, as Panda King had helped with the whole Cooper Vault heist.

They even invited Carmelita and Nick, who were in a serious relationship now. Both Merah and Sly agreed that they should come as they were a big help with arresting Max, even if their action and participation were limited. They got engaged the night of the wedding reception; Carmelita caught to bouquet.

Both Bentley and Murray stood as Sly's best men, and Penelope stood as Merah's Maid of Honor. As of yet, Bentley and Penelope still aren't engaged, but Sly's been pushing him to ask her for a long, long time. He's thinking about asking her soon.

If anyone can actually believe it, Murray and Jing King hit it off really well when they met at the reception. Panda King also seemed to approve of Murray. Could he possibly being Jing King's new husband? I dunno, but time will tell.

Zeke stuck around for a while, even after Sly and Merah were married, and then he decided to go on a sabbatical around the world. He came come two months earlier than planned when he heard that Merah was pregnant. Yes, for real, this time. Sly and Merah had a baby girl, and named her Sarah. Three years later, they had a boy named Joshua.

At a young age, Sarah showed a great interest in becoming a thief. She would pull out the Thievius Raccoonus whenever she could find where her mom hid it, and 'look at all the pretty pictures'. Josh wasn't as interested in the field-man thieving aspect as Sarah was, much to Sly's disappointment, but he found that Josh wanted to take after Murray, and be a getaway driver. He and Murray would spend countless hours playing racing games on their game consol. Josh always won.

Carmelita and Nick were married a year after Merah and Sly, and they had a son around the same time Sarah was born, a month earlier. His name is Michael, and now that he and Sarah are teenagers, they have a relationship going on. Merah didn't know, though, and Sarah would rather keep it that way. Sly, however, would follow them, just to make sure they didn't go too far. He kept his distance, though. He figured if Sarah seemed to like Michael so much, so be it.

The Coopers bought a fairly large house in Paris. Zeke lived in the in-law suite attached to the house, and he helped Sly train his over-eager daughter in thieving. She's good at it, and may even become a master at it before she's eighteen. This is something Sly's happy about.

Max is still in prison. He's made a couple of futile attempts to escape, but Carmelita, who's been keeping Merah informed about him, caught him each time. The security around his cell is so tight, not even Sly could get in there. Guards are on duty around the clock, and there are so many sensors and lasers in front of the bars on his cell. Carmelita doesn't think he'll be getting out anytime soon, which makes Merah very relieved.

Ever since Carmelita and Nick had helped Merah and Sly, the two couples ended up staying good friends. Sly hasn't been out thieving for a while, partially because he's too busy helping out with a family and training his daughter in arts of thievery, so Carmelita has no reason to arrest him. They'll still see each other on a regular basis as friends, and even Merah gets along well with Carmelita now.

So, I guess this is the end of this story. Everyone, except for Max, lived happily ever after.

_**THE END**_

_**Sly:**_ Yeah, you knew everything was going to turn out alright.

* * *

**A/N:** Ta da! It's all done. Hoped you liked it. The ending… I didn't like. At all. But this is only… the third time I've actually managed to finish a story, so… consider yourselves lucky I _did _finish it. I'm gonna work on my endings. And writing my stories with more and longer chapters.

Anyway, I hoped you all liked this story. I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for all the reviews, and I hope you'll look out for my future Sly stories. I'm working on a new one already. I'll also be posting it on the Sucker Punch website.

Laters!


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